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TOKYO (AP) The IOC says the Olympics are only about the sports; no politics allowed. This will be the mantra, as it always is, when the Beijing Winter Games open in six months.

Covering ski races or figure-skating finals should be painless; just stay in the sports bubble and out of trouble. But reporters from other countries who puncture the PR skin to explore other aspects of life in China as they have in Japan during the Tokyo Olympics could draw more than criticism.

They could face harassment and threats if portrayals are deemed by the government and the increasingly nationalist public to be giving a negative view of China.

China demands complete adherence to its position on a number of issues, Oriana Skylar Mastro, who researches China security issues at Stanford University, told The Associated Press.

It demands this from governments, but also corporations, media, and individuals, she said in an email. So, do I think China is going to go after anyone, including sports reporters during the Olympics, that deviate from the acceptable script? Yes, I absolutely do.

Chinas foreign ministry has repeatedly criticized the politicization of sports and has said any Olympic boycott is doomed to failure. It has not addressed journalism during the Games specifically.

The peril for journalists was evident last week when foreign reporters covering floods in central China were targeted. The Communist Youth League, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party, asked social media followers to locate and report a BBC reporter on assignment. That expanded into broader accusations against foreign reporters for slandering China with coverage that could be seen as critical rather than focusing on government rescue efforts.

In a statement, The Foreign Correspondents Club of China said the rhetoric from organizations affiliated with Chinas ruling Communist Party directly endangers the physical safety of foreign journalists in China and hinders free reporting.

The organization added that staff from the BBC and the Los Angeles Times received death threats and intimidating messages and calls. This came after China last year expelled more than a dozen American reporters working for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

Beijing was the IOCs unlikely choice for the 2022 Winter Olympics, a decision made in 2015 chiefly because European favorites like Oslo and Stockholm pulled out for financial or political reasons. The IOC was left with only only two candidates: Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Beijing won by four votes, 44-40. The choice elicited sharp criticism from human rights groups, which continues.

The IOC has declined several recent demands to move the Olympics out of Beijing. China is accused by some foreign governments and researchers of imposing forced labor, systematic forced birth control and torture upon Uyghurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group Xinjiang, a region in the countrys west.

China has denied committing genocide against the Uyghur people, calling such accusations the lie of the century.

Last week a vice president of Intel, one of the IOCs top 15 sponsors, said he agreed with a U.S. State Department assessment that said China was committing genocide against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. Other sponsors including Coca-Cola, Visa, Procter & Gamble, and Airbnb appeared in a congressional hearing but wouldnt answer most questions directly.

Its what I refer to as the Olympics Catch-22 for illiberal regimes like China, Victor Cha, an Asian specialist at Georgetown University, wrote in an email to AP. Cha surveyed the politics of sports in Asia and the 2008 Beijing Olympics in his book Beyond the Final Score. He also served from 2004-2007 in the Bush White House as director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council.

They want all the glory and attention of hosting the world for the Winter Games, but they want none of the inevitable criticism that comes with the media magnifying glass, Cha said. All hosts have to deal with this; witness all of the scrutiny over COVID pre-Tokyo. The difference is how the hosts handle it.

The IOC says its focus is only sports, though its a highly political body with an observer seat at the United Nations. IOC President Thomas Bach touted his efforts to bring the two Koreas together during 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He also addressed world leaders in 2019 in a G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

Our responsibility is to deliver the Games, said Mark Adams, the IOCs spokesman. That is our responsibility. It is the responsibility of others the United Nations, who have been very supportive of the Olympic Games, and governments to deal with this and not for us.

He added: Given the diverse participation in the Olympic Games, the IOC has to remain neutral. Thats clear.

Adams was asked in an email if the IOC was willing to condemn Chinas policy of interning Uyghurs and other largely Muslim minorities. He did not answer the question and referred to previous statements. At all times, the IOC recognizes and upholds human rights within its remit, Adams wrote. This includes the rights of journalists to report on the Olympic Games.

The IOC included human rights requirements several years ago in the host city contract for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but it did not include those guidelines the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for Beijing. Paris is the first Olympics to contain the standards, long pushed for by human rights groups.

In countless interviews about China and its preparations for the Winter Olympics, Bach has not mentioned the situation of the Uyghurs. Nor has he said it was a topic covered in meetings of his executive board.

The IOC, however, has promoted press statements about conversations Bach has had with Chinese President Xi Jinping, though it has not revealed the content.

The Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, reacting to the BBC incident, essentially said the British news organization had it coming.

The BBC has a long history of ideological bias against China, ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. It has been producing and broadcasting fake news, spreading false information on issues related to Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and the COVID-19 epidemic to attack and discredit China.

The BBC has been reporting on China with tinted glasses for a long time, which brought down its reputation in China, Zhao added.

Yaqiu Wang, a China researcher for Human Rights Watch who grew up near Shanghai, said the foreign media had brand credibility five or six years ago. But she said increasing information control by the Chinese state does not allow average Chinese to get a fair assessment of what the Western press is saying about China.

Wang said the mood is vastly different from 2008, when Beijing held the Summer Olympics. Many outside China hoped the Olympics would improve human rights, and some Chinese saw it as period of optimism. Controls over the foreign media were relaxed in the runup to the Olympics, which some interpreted as a relaxation on the political front after decades of reform and opening-up, as China refers to its 40 years of economic reconfiguration.

The hostility among the people is real, much more real than before,, Wang said. That kind of hostility did not exist in 2008, but it exists now. Among average people, they know that saying bad things about the West or being hostile, they know its in your interest to do that.

If you go to a stadium, it will be all good if they feel you are covering something good, Wang added. But say you speak to some dissidents or somebody who is a victim of some kind of abuse, you could be in a dangerous position.

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AP Sports Writer Stephen Wade reported from Beijing for 2 1/2 years covering the runup to the 2008 Olympics, the Games, and its aftermath. More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2020-tokyo-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Read more:
Beijing Games: Sports coverage fine, other things maybe not - Associated Press

A prominent Hong Kong singer and pro-democracy activist has been arrested by the citys anti-corruption watchdog over accusations he broke the law by singing at a political rally three years ago.

The arrest of Anthony Wong on Monday is the latest official move against those who had been pushing for greater democracy in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

Hong Kongs independent commission against corruption said Wong performed two songs at the 2018 rally and urged attendees to vote for the pro-democracy candidate Au Nok-hin in a byelection.

The watchdog also charged Au, who won the election, in part for publicising the rally on social media and saying that Wong would be performing.

The watchdog said in a statement that providing others with refreshments and entertainment at an election event was a corrupt conduct and a serious offence and against the elections ordinance.

Local media reported Wong was released on bail. Au has been in jail since March after being one of the 47 pro-democracy activists arrested for alleged subversion over an unofficial primary election they held last year. The unofficial polls, which have historically been held by both sides of the political divide, were attended by more than 600,000 people and were widely seen as an unofficial statement on the government.

The arrests come as authorities crack down on dissent in Hong Kong following the 2019 anti-government protests sparked by concerns that the former British colony was losing the freedoms it was promised when it was handed over to Chinese control in 1997. Opposition figures, media, legal groups, unions and activists have been targeted.

China last year imposed a sweeping national security law that has since been used to arrest more than 100 pro-democracy figures. Changes have also been made to Hong Kongs election laws to reduce the number of directly elected legislators and give a largely pro-Beijing committee the leeway to nominate legislators.

The crackdown has drawn criticism from many governments around the world.

Wong rose to fame in the 1980s as the vocalist for pop duo Tat Ming Pair and later embarked on a solo career.

In 1989 Tat Ming Pair played at a benefit concert after the Tiananmen Square massacre, and travelled with the 1990 North American Concert for Democracy in China tour. Wong also co-founded the LGBTQ+ rights group BigLove Alliance.

He became an outspoken supporter of the citys democracy movement, backing the 2019 protests as well as the umbrella revolution protests that hit the city in 2014. His support for the 2014 protests led to a ban on performing in mainland China and his music was removed from streaming sites.

Read more:
Hong Kong singer and activist arrested over corrupt conduct - The Guardian

Sourabh Raaj Jains eviction from Khatron Ke Khiladi 11 has left fans shocked. The actor was ousted despite performing all tasks to the best of his abilities and the fact that he wasnt even supposed to be in the elimination task. Given Arjun Bijlani had won the K Medal last week, he got a chance to save himself and send another contestant for the last task. Stating that Sourabh would be able to perform well, he chose him, but as luck would have it, the actor took more time compared to Anushka Sen and Maheck Chahal and had to bid farewell to the show.

Sharing that the elimination was not in his hands, Sourabh, in a recent chat with indianexpress.com had shared, While I do not have much experience in reality shows, I have understood that there are things which are not in your control. Its like sitting in a car and letting someone else have control. Also, theres not much that you can do as sometimes things are not based on talent but situations.

The actor added that it would be a treat for his fans though as through his short journey, he never got a fear phanda or aborted a task. Even when I had a phobia when it comes to creepy crawlies, I managed to complete my task.

Ask him if this sour experience will deter him from taking up another reality show, and Sourabh smiled to say, After all these years, I have learnt never to say never.

Giving a clarification on his eviction, Arjun Bijlani also tweeted sharing that he wish Sourabh was saved. I won the k medal to be saved from the elimination stunt .. later the twist was I have to choose someone. So I did that. When Souraub was eliminated I knew a lot of people will find it unfair. I truly wished he hadnt .But yes u have a right to have an opinion, he wrote.

While Sourabh Raaj Jain seems to have accepted his fate, fans were clearly unhappy with his exit. Even his wife Riddhima shared an Insta story which read, Very rightly said @sourabhraaj.jain Fear fanda stunt kharab/abort karne se mile ya planning se,, karna to hai!!! Well done to your spirits. Question to all.. putting Sourabh Raaj Jain in direct elimination round when he completed all the stunts, never got Fear Fanda, never Abortted any stunt. is this correct? Is this justice?

Here are some fans tweet reacting on Sourabhs eviction:

Khatron Ke Khiladi 11 airs on Colors.

Originally posted here:
Sourabh Raaj Jains eviction from Khatron Ke Khiladi 11 causes uproar on social media, actor says Some things are not in your control - The Indian...

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona visits a summer program at a Los Angeles school in mid-July. // Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, Al Seib

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has a message for schools across the country ahead of the new school year: Students need to be in classrooms.

"That's where students learn best," Cardona told NPR's A Martnez. "Schools are more than just places where students learn how to read and write they're communities. They're like second families to our students."

On Monday, the U.S. Education Department will release a roadmap for the return to school, encouraging districts to invest in social and emotional support for students and outlining ways to "accelerate academic achievement."

The roadmap also recommends that school systems follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's masking guidance for K-12 schools, which the agency revised last week, recommending "universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status."

Mask mandate bans will make it hard for some schools to follow the roadmap

Following those masking recommendations will be next to impossible for some districts where state legislators have stepped in. Texas, South Carolina and Iowa have all passed laws banning schools from requiring students and staff to wear masks. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said last week that the CDC's recommendations wouldn't change that. In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster tweeted that "personal responsibility" was the answer.

"I know that there are some folks making decisions that are less based on science and more on their ideology," Cardona said. "But at the end of the day, our educators, their job is to make sure our students are OK. We have to make sure that we're following mitigation strategies and creating safe learning environments for students."

It's on schools to communicate with hesitant families about the steps they're taking, Cardona said. If they're not taking the right steps, "what's going to happen is those families that don't feel comfortable will not be sending their children to school."

Cardona added that he knows some school leaders are "going to be running up against challenges from elected officials. And that's sad and that's unfortunate."

South Carolina's largest school district, Greenville County Schools, is strongly encouraging masking but district spokesperson Tim Waller said that's about all they can do to get students and staff to use face coverings. "The legislature has passed a number of provisos which have tied the hands of school districts in South Carolina," he said. If cases rise or high numbers of students and staff must quarantine, "It is my hope that elected officials who have placed these restrictions on public school districts in South Carolina will do the right thing and ease up on some of those restrictions."

Cardona said the department is having daily conversations with governors and elected officials about best practices but "in those places where they're most resistant, that's where we're seeing the most spread of COVID-19."

Meanwhile, public health leaders are warning Americans about the fast-spreading delta variant of the coronavirus. On Friday, the CDC published data showing that vaccinated people are just as likely as unvaccinated people to spread the virus to others.

"I don't have to tell you, the rising delta variant is creating some concern across the country," Cardona said. But he added, "We know that mask wearing and mitigation strategies allow [schools] to reopen safely." If increased spread of the virus prohibits schools from reopening in person, he said, "to me, that's a failure of adults."

Schools should "hit the reset button" this fall

The roadmap also recommends that school leaders encourage and provide access to vaccination for all eligible students and staff.

Vaccines are currently approved for children 12 years old and up so, regardless of how many students and families heed public health advice, elementary schools will be filled with unvaccinated students at the start of school. And while most middle school-aged students are eligible for the vaccine, just 28% of the country's 12- to 15-year-olds were fully vaccinated as of Thursday, according to data from the CDC.

Vaccinated or not, Cardona said students need to be able to return to classrooms, where they have access to school meals and "where they can access the social and emotional support and mental health support professionals that are available in the school."

That social-emotional support is another area the department is encouraging schools to invest in with the pandemic relief funding provided by the federal government. "I would be as concerned about the social and emotional well-being of our students as much as the academic loss," Cardona said.

Schools have an opportunity "to hit the reset button" but he worried the one thing holding them back is "complacency":

"You know, before the pandemic, we had wide opportunity gaps in our country. We had the cost of college preventing people from thinking about college because they didn't want to be buried in debt. We must do better."

For Cardona, that future might include some expanded remote learning options for students. "But post pandemic, I really feel like students need to be in a classroom learning with their peers, engaging with an educator in person."

That's what many school leaders are focused on right now. Still, in-person school is a complicated goal when, in many places, the desires of state leaders, public health officials and families all look different.

See more here:
Students Need To Be In Classrooms, With Masks, This Fall, Education Secretary Says | NPR - Houston Public Media

South Korean-inspired hairdos, slang, and dances are becoming increasingly popular in North Korea. While that might not sound like a pressing security threat to most people, Chairman Kim Jong Un is not like most people. His regime believes that these superficial expressions represent a deeper well of social change that corrodes socialist culture and undermines the countrys ideological conformity.

The stakes are getting higher for information flows into North Korea: Despite the risk of severe punishments, many North Koreans secretly consume information and entertainment from the outside world. For its part, the government in Pyongyang views outside information as a threat to the regime because it disabuses the people of beliefs planted by state propaganda and enables them to compare their living conditions to those of the outside world.

Will outside ideas have the power to transform North Korea in the way Kim fears? Or will Kim succeed in his quest to stomp them out and ensure that the young generation become the heroes and builders for the future of socialism?

In our view, the best hope for peaceful, long-term change lies in helping North Koreans to become more knowledgeable about their own country and the outside world. This could plant the seeds for a civil society that could eventually favor rapprochement over indefinite hostility and improve protections for human rights. North Koreans are hungry for information and the outside world is taking measures to help, but the countrys authoritarian government wont sit idly by. While the Kim regime strives to seal off the country, the outside world should augment information access by utilizing new methods and technologies, and provide both elites and ordinary people with objective reporting, useful information, and entertainment.

How North Koreans Get Access to Foreign Ideas and Information

North Korea is attempting to complement its COVID-19 border closures by firming up its ideological blockade. The countrys foreign ministry accused Western governments of conducting false propaganda using mass media and modern information and communication tools to interfere in sovereign states internal affairs. It also criticized the U.S. State Departments annual press statement on North Korea Freedom Week, which explained that America will continue to raise awareness on North Koreas egregious human rights situation, and support access to independent information. In addition, Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, warned defectors in South Korea to stop scattering leaflets across the border.

A more informed population might end up undermining the domestic loyalty that has become all the more critical for the Kim regimes goal to achieve self-reliance in the face of prolonged sanctions and a steep reduction in trade during the pandemic. More fundamentally, a populace enlightened about the goings-on of the outside world poses a threat to the legitimacy of Kims rule and his ability to exert control. Understanding this, his regime has ratcheted up crackdowns on illicit streams of information and is vying to reverse the dramatic social changes that have already resulted from them. But can he succeed?

In the mid-1990s, a devastating famine struck North Korea, forcing the government to loosen restrictions at the border. As a result, North Koreans were in contact with an unprecedented influx of ideas and products from the outside world. Entertainment and news media in the form of thumb drives, micro memory cards, DVDs, and pirate radio broadcasts, all began circulating through illicit networks of importers and sharers in North Korea. This was especially remarkable since North Koreans were and still are severely punished for spreading information that has not been vetted and filtered by the North Korean Workers Partys Propaganda and Agitation Department.

An array of international organizations disseminate material across the border into North Korea, distributing content that is often curated by North Korean defectors. Many of these organizations have the support of the U.S. government, which is authorized to spend $3 million per year to increase the availability of sources of information not controlled by the Government of North Korea. In 2020, the National Endowment for Democracy funded initiatives to broadcast medium-wave radio programs into North Korea, help to identify new methods and technologies to enhance information access, and instill democratic norms and ideals and foster independent thinking by distributing materials to reform-minded North Koreans in the Asia region. Additional radio broadcasts into North Korea are carried out by the BBC, Radio Free Asia, and Global Korean Network, a service by Korean Broadcasting System, South Koreas national public broadcaster.

According to a defector survey conducted by the Seoul-based Unification Media Group in 2019, 80 percent of North Koreans who watch and listen to foreign content do so at night and 40 percent consume this content at least once per week. Although over half of the survey respondents say they hear people discussing South Korean media content, these conversations are typically restricted to close friends and family members. DVDs were fashionable a few years back, but these days, North Koreans prefer thumb drives and micro memory cards because they are small and easy to hide. This makes them ideal for quickly stashing during a crackdown by fearsome officers from the Ministry of Peoples Security and the Ministry of State Security, especially when one doesnt have enough cash on hand to pay a bribe.

Cat-and-Mouse Games

North Korea was forced to wrestle with the influx of information from the outside world as the border loosened, new foreign goods were traded in less-regulated marketplaces, and mobile phones became more prevalent. Defector surveys carried out by Marcus Noland and Stephan Haggard for their book Witness to Transformation revealed a correlation between the consumption of foreign media and more negative assessments of the regime. They also found a positive relationship between the degree of reliance on market-based income (versus government sources) and perceptions of tightening restrictions and joking with peers about the government. Some North Koreans secretly use foreign mobile phones near the border with China to make calls to family and business contacts abroad, but the authorities use high-tech radar detectors and phone tapping devices to catch and punish these people.

In response, the regime adopted an aggressive three-pronged approach that includes blocking access to foreign media, punishing consumption, and offering alternatives. The government has empowered crackdown squads with high-tech tools to block the circulation of illicit materials. Under Kim, the country has also revised its criminal code and amplified the surveillance and punishment of offenders.

The results of this campaign are stifling. North Korea ranked 179th out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, which says the totalitarian regime continues to keep its citizens in a state of ignorance. The vast majority of defectors (85 percent) polled by Intermedia in 2018 said that punishments for consuming foreign content had become more severe under Kim. The Unification Media Group survey found that three out of four respondents had witnessed someone being punished for watching foreign content.

North Korea further tightened the noose across all realms of life following the second U.S.-North Korean summit in Hanoi in February 2019, when Kim, one month after returning from Vietnam without a major diplomatic victory, renewed the self-reliance campaign. State media have since noticeably stepped up rhetoric on conducting ideological education, combating anti-socialist elements, and obeying the countrys draconian laws.

North Koreas social control campaign was elevated during the COVID-19 lockdown, with the party underscoring the importance of combating non-socialist elements at a high-profile meeting. This culminated in the state passing a law on rejecting reactionary ideology and culture. The main goal of the law is reportedly to block the inflow and consumption of South Korean cultural content. North Koreas authorities also reportedly stepped up crackdowns on the consumption and spread of South Korean content since the passage of the law.

In an effort to make its propaganda material more competitive, North Korea has modernized its state-run television, especially since Kims public debut in 2010. Examples include: enhancing the visual quality of state-run television, calling to improve the signal quality for broadcasts, and offering limited access to party-approved foreign cultural content such as foreign films and dramas. However, it is questionable whether enhanced visualization and curated foreign content will be enough to keep up with the tastes of North Koreans. Despite the extraordinary efforts of the Kim regime to block information from entering the country, many North Koreans have already developed an appetite for foreign trends and South Korean culture.

The Danger of a Freed Mind

The spread of outside information could help to form the basis for a civil society in North Korea. In turn, this could lead to pressure on the government to treat its people better and reconsider its hostile international posture. In the long term, continued exposure could even improve the relationship between state and society and boost prospects for a revised foreign policy calculus that favors rapprochement.

The exposure to ideas, language, and values from abroad helps to transform the way in which North Koreans view themselves, their society, and the wider world. The increased availability of outside sources of information has caused North Koreans to trust state media less, blame Kim for the countrys problems more, and decrease their support for the state ideology of Juche (which roughly translates to self-reliance), according to defector surveys carried out by Seoul National University. These changes can be a source of inspiration for action. In particular, multiple studies indicate that South Korean cultural content has a particularly significant impact, in some cases influencing the decision to defect and easing refugees integration into the South.

North Korean defector and Ewha Womans University professor Dr. Hyun In-nae recently told one of the authors that the younger generation [of defectors] has a much faster time adjusting to life in South Korea. She explained that the new generation has typically already seen South Korean dramas and publications. This has made it possible for them to adjust to their new lives within just a year or two, compared to the typical 10-year adjustment period for defectors who arrived in Hyuns cohort more than 15 years ago.

North Koreas informational control is without parallel. But perhaps the nearest peer on this front East Germany no longer exists. Radio broadcasts produced by West Germany were also consumed in the Communist East. These entertainment and news programs enjoyed popularity on both sides of the divide, and helped to create a common sense of identity and community. East Berliner Anna Kaminsky said that the broadcasts led many East Germans to recalibrate their mentalities leading to the democratic protests and the border reforms.

This precedent is certainly on the mind of North Koreas leadership. The party-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun recently published an article warning, The former socialist states in Eastern Europe were unable to prevent the ideological deterioration of the youth, muddying the fresh air of the socialist society, [and causing] waves of capitalist thoughts and corrupt trends.

North Koreas central media have expressed concern about the ideological purity of young North Koreans. The official media campaign is supplemented by internal educational materials and guidance on crackdowns. During weekly indoctrination and criticism sessions, North Koreans are sometimes shown videos demonstrating bad behavior. One video, shown by defector and National Assembly member Thae Yong Ho in 2019, featured footage of North Koreans wearing contraband clothing with non-Korean letters on them. To discourage these trends, the offenders were named and shamed.

Growing regime sensitivities to the youths preference for Western cultural influences culminated in a letter that Kim sent in April of this year to a national youth league congress, where he called for inculcating the youth with socialist principles and values. Kim said it was patriotic to defend the purity and future of our young people against anti-socialist and non-socialist practices. Furthermore, at party and youth league meetings, Kim himself explicitly pointed out that the youths clothing and hairstyles require rectification. This theme is occasionally brought up by North Korean media, but it is highly unusual for the countrys top leader to personally mention it.

Bottom Line

In a country as restrictive as North Korea, alternate sources of information are critical for allowing the North Korean people to forge informed opinions about the states place in society. Amb. Robert King, former U.S. special envoy for North Korea human rights issues, writes that North Koreas efforts to restrict access to outside ideas and influence reflects Kim Jong-uns conviction that foreign media represents a significant challenge to his totalitarian regime.

A sudden change in North Koreas political system is an extremely remote possibility. However, in the long run, the shifting values and perspectives of large chunks of the population could bring North Korea increasingly closer to a different assessment of its interests and willingness for change. While North Koreas regime remains one of the most repressive governments on the planet, it still strives to instill loyalty and it perceives foreign media as undercutting this effort. Outside information undermines dubious claims made in state propaganda, such as the notion that Kim is an internationally respected statesman or that South Korea started the Korean War. Armed with information to compare the poor performance of the Kim government with other countries and governments around the world, North Koreans feel discontent and disillusionment.

Furthermore, capitalist countries or those with experience in economic reform should redouble efforts to share with North Korean academics and officials knowledge and knowhow on market economic policies that they can take back to their country, adjust, and apply as North Korea continues to experiment with reform-oriented economic measures. A North Korea that has a clear roadmap for economic change is likely to be more receptive to change across social, cultural, and even political realms.

South Korea, the United States, and civil society organizations in both countries should continue to support North Korean defectors and refugees living in South Korea and elsewhere. Should the North Korean government collapse or open up, these individuals will be the natural bridge between the outside world and North Korea, and will prove instrumental in any scenario involving either a breakdown or integration.

Jonathan Corrado is director of policy at the Korea Society, where he helps to produce programming and conduct research projects related to Korean Peninsula security issues. Jonathan is also a Pacific Forum non-resident James Kelly Fellow, a National Committee on American Foreign Policy Emerging Leader, and a contributor to NK Pro.

Rachel Minyoung Lee is a nonresident fellow with the 38 North Program at the Stimson Center. Lee was a North Korea collection expert and analyst with Open Source Enterprise under the CIA from 2000 to 2019. During that time, she wrote on a broad range of North Korean issues, from leadership, domestic politics and economy, and foreign policy, to social and cultural developments.

Image: Defense Department (Photo by D. Myles Cullen)

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Getting Outside Information Past Big Brother in North Korea - War on the Rocks