In this RiskHedge video, I discuss what I witnessed in North Korea and how the country’s political system turns Kim Jong Un into an object of public worship.

I examine the fear, obedience, propaganda, and ritualized devotion that shape daily life in North Korea, and why outsiders must understand the country not merely as a dictatorship, but as a society organized around total submission to the state.

Watch the full discussion below:

Key Takeaways

• Why North Korea must be understood as a society built around fear and ritualized obedience.
• How the state turns Kim Jong Un into an object of public worship.
• Why propaganda in North Korea is not merely political messaging, but a system of social control.
• What visitors can observe about daily life, conformity, and public behavior inside the country.
• Why North Korea offers a stark example of what happens when the state absorbs the individual completely.