I read an article (from Cracked, so take it with the necessary grain of salt) about an incident where a South Korean high schooler (or college student) with socialist ideals defected to North Korea and the NK authorities thought this was a great propaganda coup, so they got her on stage in front of an NK audience and she delivered a fiery speech blasting the South and praising the North. Problem is, the NK audience noticed how comparatively plump she was and how nice her shoes and clothes were, and got an entirely different takeaway message that day.
This seems to be a common theme with totalitarian regimes.
Dallas was the only U.S. TV show to air in Romania during the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. Apparently, the dictator thought the over-the-top portrayals of Texas cutthroat capitalism would remind his subjects how good they had it in the communist state.
Instead, the show became a hit and its stars folk heroes. If you believe the hype, Dallas helped inspire the 1989 Romanian revolution that toppled Ceausescu.
There ought to be a charity that allows one to contribute toward those balloons they send into North Korea carrying contraband. I would be pleased to get a card, “Sixteen copies of Squid Game have been deposited in the PDRK in You Name.”
Unfortunately some North Koreans getting their hands on the contraband could get executed or imprisoned for that.
Yes, the government in North Korea kills people. Taking them down will not be bloodless.