Early in Kim Jong Un’s rule, a North Korean actress told me that the young leader had set the goal of globalizing the country’s cinema, and she wondered if it might be possible.

At the time, it seemed like a pipe dream, but the online success of a new DPRK propaganda song has raised the possibility that, just maybe, North Korea can find an overseas audience for its popular culture.

I have taught DPRK culture for many years, but no matter how sympathetic, people lose interest when films, TV shows and songs turn to a pervasive theme — the adoration