This is the first part of a series which will attempt to dive into some of the details of information access and consumption in North Korea, strive to explain the relevance of unprecedented level of illicit access among North Koreans to foreign media, and address the role of information in North Korea’s future.

A growing proportion of North Korean citizens have been accessing foreign information and media for over two decades. But why is foreign information access, distribution and consumption inside North Korea such a big deal? Why is such a common phenomenon considered to be