One of the major problems every aspiring student of North Korea has to keep in mind is the dramatic shortage of the available information dealing with this country. In the information-saturated world of nowadays, North Korea remains a remarkable exception – and this fact is not always understood outside the narrow circle of the professional Pyongyangologists.

There is not doubt: North Korea is most secretive country in the world, and the North Korean dignitaries believe that this is something to be proud of. In December 2006 somebody leaked a speech of a prominent Pyongyang functionary, who, while talking to a large group of minor officials, proudly described the North Korean information management policy in the following way: