I'd be skeptical of some of the more outlandish defector testimonies. They have a strong incentive to exaggerate and invent stories, and owing to the relative s

I'd be skeptical of some of the more outlandish defector testimonies. They have a strong incentive to exaggerate and invent stories, and owing to the relative seclusion of North Korea, it's pretty easy to not get called on it. Many of the defector testimonies also comes from the mid 90s, when North Korea was undergoing a famine, and while that famine was really severe, it was still 20 years ago and their malnutrition levels have plunged precipitously since. If it were still that bad today, probably the regime would have collapsed already. Tourism in the country is very controlled, but it's not 100%. Kernels of truth will slip through. Honestly, the propaganda and the truth is quite easy to distinguish, too - their propaganda is very unsophisticated and pretty blunt and not every tour guide is a mindless brainwashed automaton.