North Korean Policy Elites - Defense Technical Information Center

the general audience in a two-step process, with messages first being received by a small,
educated segment of “opinion leaders,” who in turn pass the information on to their friends. 66
Some sort of news diffusion obviously occurs in North Korea, where scarce information
about the outside world is cautiously passed from one person to another. 67 Hwang Jang-yop
believes that until greater freedom of speech is available within North Korea, broadcasting to or
dropping information leaflets on North Korea may be premature. 68 Between two North Koreans,
some freedom of communication is possible, because if one reports to authorities that his
interlocutor said something that could be construed as “counter-revolutionary,” the other can
always deny it. But among three or more people, a form of the prisoners’ dilemma provides the
motivation for listeners to report disloyalty to the authorities before they in turn are reported
upon. Children are sometimes even induced by their teachers to report on their parents.
Nevertheless, defectors report that news, rumors, and even criticism of the Kim regime make the
rounds, with a few people paying the price for their loose lips but most avoiding negative
consequences.
H. NEWS OF U.S. MILITARY INITIATIVES
As an example of what North Koreans could learn about the U.S. military policy toward
their country - without needing direct access to foreign media or contact with
foreigners - consider the following news items and accompanying interpretations carried in
Nodong Sinmun and/or broadcast on KCBS or KCTV during the year 2003.
On U.S. military forces: On May 13, KCBS reported that Secretary Rumsfeld had asked
Congress to appropriate funds to develop a nuclear bomb to destroy underground bunkers. 69 On
June 26, Minju Choson carried an article on the Defense Department’s “combat capability
enlargement plan.” 70 The article said the United States would spend $11 billion in the ROK over
the next three years to introduce a mobile armed brigade, precision-guided bombs, and updated
Apache helicopters, and that “there is no way to view the U.S. military buildup maneuvers other
than as the augmentation of armed forces for war against the North.” Similar items have
66 Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet. The People’s Choice. New York: Columbia University
Press, 1948. The two-step information flow is but one form of information diffusion, initially studied by the
sociologist E. M. Rogers, and a long-standing concern of the marketing industry. See E. M. Rogers. Diffusion of
Innovations. New York: The Free Press, 1962.
67 For example, a brief discussion of how North Koreans discuss political topics is provided by the defector Kim Jin
Ho in an interview for Keys, vol. 15 (Winter 2003), p. 36.
68 Hwang was speaking to a meeting of police officers in Seoul. Yonhap, October 13, 2003. FBIS
KPP20031013000079.
69 KCBS, May 13, 2003. FBIS KPP20030519000036.
70 O Pyong-chi, “The U.S. Imperialists Must Withdraw the Adventurous ‘Combat Capability Enlargement Plan.’”
Minju Choson, June 26, 2003, p4. FBIS KPP20030709000084.
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