The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un

by Anna Fifield

Activists in South Korea try to help with this by putting USB drives in huge balloons that they float across the border when the winds are right or in bottles that they float up the river when the currents are favorable. Most are loaded with action movies and soppy soap operas. Some contain books and encyclopedias. Others hold peppy South Korean K-pop. Some contain porn. All of it is gobbled up by North Koreans hungry for information.

Contrary to popular perception, most dictators are not overthrown by an angry populace marching in the streets. The vast majority are removed by insiders from the regime. The biggest risk to dictators is not the struggle between the privileged and the masses but a struggle among the elites.