ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK; North Korea) arrival as a diplomatic subject during the Cold War era. The DPRK’s emphasis on diplomacy during the Cold War signaled a shift in focus from hard power elements to ones designed to improve and promote the image of the state abroad, as well as its Juche ideology, through the use of three specific and differentiated channels of distribution, a three-track information regime. This achieved two goals: it helped strengthen domestic rule through increasingly totalitarian measures, and also provided the state a growing level of legitimacy in the international system. With many of the great powers reluctant to engage the DPRK diplomatically, there was a specific focus on the Third World, prestigious international sporting events like the FIFA World Cup, and external domestic social movements such as the Black Panthers. The use of the three-track information regime would ultimately prove successful with the DPRK solidifying its position and experiencing continued diplomatic success past the close of the Cold War.
