Nat Kretchun and Jane Kim of InterMedia have published a quantitative analysis of the ability of North Koreans to access outside information. It is quite rigorous!
Abstract:
This study assesses levels of access to outside information within North Korea based on research conducted among North Korean defectors, refugees and travelers, as well as outside media content analysis and expert interviews. Survey samples of refugees and defectors are not statistically representative of the home population of North Korea and generally contain a disproportionate number of respondents from the provinces bordering China. Interpretation of all statistics contained within this report should be undertaken only with these caveats firmly in mind. The primary focus of the study was on the ability of North Koreans to access outside information from foreign sources through a variety of media, communication technologies and personal sources. The relationship between information exposure on North Koreans’ perceptions of the outside world and their own country was also analyzed.
The web cast was here (featuring panelists Abraham Kim, Nat Kretchun, Marcus Noland, and Martyn Williams) but I do not know how long it will be archived.
Here is coverage in Reuters, Bloomberg, Associate Press,
