Sixty years after the armistice and a few weeks from the July 27 celebrations, there are many things we can speculate regarding the future of the DPRK. While most analysts have decided to focus on the North’s military posturing and rhetoric, NK News has shown how things can be quite different behind the facade that North Korea punctually sets up at every public occasion. Aside from revealing a more human side of the military, a more detailed look into the celebrations showed further proof that North Korea tends to be louder and bolder in areas where it feels threatened or inferior.

Keeping this in mind, I would recommend taking a similar approach in showing that North Korea’s resistance to foreign influence is driven by this selective and reactive approach to modernization. We know that the DPRK flexes its military muscles to remind foreign observers that the country will defend its sovereignty, at any cost, but what does the leadership do in order to prevent foreign culture, which the country has been exposed for two decades now, from causing a legitimacy crisis?