Yuratuhl wrote:
Word won't spread. North Koreans live in a literal vacuum. As much as we talk about how terrible it is that China or the [insert autocratic Middle East regime] or Iran (or, if SOPA passes, the USA) restricts information, it's nothing compared to North Korea. No one knows anything, and anyone who isn't in the army is too busy starving to be mad or even ask questions. You can't be emboldened or inspired by popular revolts overseas when you don't know that said revolts have happened.
Eventual revolt is still entirely possible, though. Should Kim Jong-un manage to piss off the wrong member(s) of the aristocracy --- which, by the way, is allowed access to the outside world --- in the future, he'll likely end up being faced with a military coup orchestrated by those aristocrats who oppose his rule. In turn, the dictatorship will topple and half of the remaining Bamboo Curtain, the other half surrounding Burma, will fall, thus allowing for a greater Western influence on Korean culture and politics.
One can only hope that the West has learned from its mistakes in regard to the formation of the USSR, though. Indifference to North Korea can only lead to something much worse than an insane but inept autocracy.
