I wonder how true the western claim is that North Koreans always feel like they’re being held hostage and fearing for their lives, so they make sure to stay in line. Or whether it’s closer to its neighbor, China, where most people simply do not care about those “forbidden” things and thus don’t seek them out.

Think of people living in rural Appalachia (a place I’m from). Most don’t think about how “good” life could be outside of that area where job opportunities are more plentiful and standard of living is higher. There’s a very strong party allegiance that’s almost religious. Caring about other countries extends to knowing just the names of some major economies and not much more. Unlike NK, they’re completely free people, but they’re happy enough being there with many never going more than a few miles from their home town or researching what the outside world is like. Most people there just don’t care. And I’m not implying it’s bad, just not an uncommon mindset.