Forgive me if this has been previously discussed (I did do a rudimentary search), but how do you suppose that the "most closed society in the world" has managed to keep a fleet of Volvo 140 taxis in service for 40 years?

As a Linux enthusiast, I am somewhat familiar with North Korea's digital ways of reaching the outside world via a state sanctioned operating system called Red Star. Red Star knows no Google.

I have seen photos of the North Korean elite with MacBooks...

Speculations welcomed.

http://jalopnik.com/north-korea-still-owes-393-000-000-for-volvos-it-bough-1629521713