A new North Korean political thriller released last month offers a fresh take on the spy genre told from the perspective of a traitor, reasserting but also subtly subverting the logic of the DPRK’s notorious caste system.

Released by North Korea’s 4.25 Art Film Studio, “Days and Nights of Confrontation” first aired on state TV in January and serves as the sequel to the film “One Day and One Night,” which attempted to update North Korean cinema with over-the-top violence to appeal to younger generations and combat the spread of South Korean culture.

In the original, a high-positioned official Ri