North Korean propaganda and popular entertainment often attempt to boost the country’s international stature through the appearance of foreign friends and supporters, who uniformly come to recognize the superiority of the uniquely self-reliant state and its pure-blooded denizens. 

Close relationships between North Koreans and foreigners in these works — especially romantic and marital ties — are seen as virtually impossible. However, one recurring exception can be found for North Korea’s historical antagonists, the Japanese. 

In a number of works set in the post-liberation era, Japanese wives of North Korean men are ultimately accepted, as long as they are able to