North Koreans were no longer reliant on the state for food. In fact, said Natsios, the country's major source of food now is the 300 farmers' markets that sprung up across the country in the wake of the famine.
Internal migrations of people looking for food "profoundly changed the [population's] whole view of the state," said Natsios, completely draining popular support for the regime and its policies. Also, the state switched during the famine from propaganda to massive police brutality as a means of maintaining power, further alienating the populace.
In addition, the international food aid that eventually arrived ended North Koreans' isolation from the West and the world and debunked the myths of North Korean superiority and self-reliance.
