On the resistance, it made me think of two examples:

One from an article some 8 years back or so – about a low level army officer, I believe it was, who was part of a “cell” or group. He said they did little more than sit around getting drunk and cussing the Kims, which in Korea shows balls, which is a nugget for thought in itself, but then he described some “action” they took: the took old tires and cut them into pieces to spell out words to put on leaflets which they scattered from a train as it road through the countryside. To them, this was the storming of the Bastille…

The same for the second incident – this one from one of the documentaries: where a couple film hanging a banner condemning Kim Jong Il from a bridge – then fled the country. That was a mammoth great act of defiance to them.

…And apparently those who saw it. Another refugee is interviewed in Manchuria who had heard about the banner hanging. She related that – what was it? – some 60 families were relocated to isolated islands for that —- for possibly being part of the “plot” and, it seemed to me, for perhaps just having seen the banner.

That lets us know something about the state of dissent in North Korea.

I think it also let’s us imagine opportunities:

With a nation that ass-tight in control, cracks that form should have the potential to run wild. Also, with the many, many types of micro-communication and data storage devices available relatively cheap, a government like Japan’s or the US, or an NGO with some funds, —- should be able to greatly enhance the reach of would-be banner hangers and tire shredders.

—- All that is really lacking, I’d guess with what little info I have, is the will of outsiders to really commit to an effort of outright subversion.