In days of yore, North Korea spent a considerable amount of time and money on public diplomacy in the Korean-speaking Yanbian region of China’s Jilin Province: books flowed into the region’s schools and public libraries; television newscasters had a noticeable North Korean lilt; and the local newspaper, the Yanbian Ilbo, regularly published pieces by journalists from the North Korean Cabinet’s own daily Minju Chosun. Many a Chinese Korean from the region embraced opportunities for upward mobility that took them to Pyongyang.

How times have changed. Young people in Yanbian today feel alienated from and