North Korean views of the South have been changing for the past three decades, and this may threaten government stability in Pyongyang, an expert told NK News.

“For many, many years, indeed for decades, it was very simple. North Koreans were expected to believe that South Korea is essentially a living hell,” Kookmin University professor and long-time North Korean watcher Andrei Lankov said.

“It is a destitute colony, where drunk American soldiers are driving their Jeeps, shooting South Koreans just for pleasure, where people are stabbing and survive by polishing shoes of the same American soldiers.”

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