While a North Korean deadline for the United States to soften its stand on denuclearization talks passed uneventfully over the New Year, state media and propaganda efforts have been focusing on the prospect of a long confrontation with the United States.
Optimism that two years of contact between leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump would usher in a new age, and related hopes for economic improvement after decades of deprivation, appear to have faded.
Instead, the government has been hard at work in recent weeks using state media, propaganda posters and performances to warn the public of a bumpy road ahead under U.S. and international pressure.