◆ The Brainwashing Mechanism Is Working Again

What is particularly striking is that North Korea's propaganda work appears to be producing real results. Reporting Partner B said that regime propaganda is getting inside people’s heads — especially regarding the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, which has been a major topic of international concern since last year.

"Here, the only footage you can see related to the war in Russia is official documentary films — nothing else. But there are many people who say they were moved by those documentaries, or by footage of families who received Hero titles meeting with Kim Jong-un."

'Russian deployment heroes’ stained with youth's blood (1) Creating a ‘new hero’ myth through propaganda

In September 2025, another reporting partner living in Hyesan described the atmosphere there as follows:

"At a Women's League study session held on September 27th, they also screened a documentary (about soldiers killed in the Russia-Ukraine war). Since everyone there was a woman, people were imagining their own sons and children, and they were in tears. Some were trembling with emotion. When they saw the Marshal (Kim Jong-un) sobbing, some people cried along with him."

Hyesan, which borders China and is the hometown of many North Korean defectors, was once considered one of the cities with the most open-minded residents in all of North Korea — a place where South Korean dramas and K-pop had flourished. The fact that residents there are once again being drawn back into propaganda's grip is a stark illustration of just how severe the closure and external isolation that began with the COVID-19 pandemic has become.

The international community's efforts to ensure North Korean citizens' access to information have never been more urgently needed.

※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.