A few days before this VBS report was posted I read an article (and for the life of me I cannot find it now) how Kim Jong-il has been able to remain in power despite the suffering of his people. The premise was that North Koreans have a maternalistic view of their leaders, i.e., the leadership is viewed as the Mother of the people and in NK culture it is up to the children to care for their mother, not vice versa. So the lack of food is viewed as a sacrifice by the people to the leadership. At the same time, the presentation by the gov't as a military power shows the people that their mother is protecting them against attack by the imperialists. (The point of the article was how this self-view has to be understood by gov'ts in trying to deal with NK.)
So seeing this VBS report further illustrated that -- how the NK people are indoctrinated through common experience, including tales of major victories over the US, and total isolation from outside influences in the way the VBS crew was not allowed to bring in even the smallest bit of outside information that would have challenged the NK view.
If I find the article I will post a link.
