The North Korean version of the Soviet samizdat. NK has lasted as long as it has because its people have no way of comparing their situation with life in China, Russia and South Korea. But change is coming and no society can remain in the grip of a totalitarian ideology forever.
Things are slowly changing in NK. More knowledge of the outside world is creeping in, and Westerners are visiting in larger numbers. This stands in comparison to the Cold War era, when it was very difficult for people from non-communist nations to visit. Slowly, the populace is starting to realize how much better life is in the outside world, and so we begin seeing acts of protest here and there.
This process is being helped by the overall breakdown of NK’s infrastructure. Back in the ‘70s, it would have been all-but-impossible for undercover reporters to operate there.
Unfortunately, totalitarianism is almost as self-sustaining as democracy, and democracies are fragile. Look at the whole of human history and tell me that totalitarianism doesn’t last “forever”. Maybe it doesn’t per se, but neither do men and women.