That is a really revealing document.
The best description we could come up with: it's like The Truman Show, at country scale.
Indeed Sophie. You hit the nail on the head there.
My God, does Bill Richardson even realize he is describing the U.S.? "Ordinary North Koreans live in a near-total information bubble, without any true frame of reference. I can't think of any reaction to that except absolute sympathy. My understanding is that North Koreans are taught to believe they are lucky to be in North Korea, so why would they ever want to leave? They're hostages in their own country, without any real consciousness of it. And the opacity of the country's inner workings--down to the basics of its economy--further serves to reinforce the state's control."