Orascom's definitely got the cell network up and running. The junior minder had a cell phone which she was able to use even in areas outside of Pyongyang, and quite a few times I saw shopkeepers with mobiles as well. Little signs of modernization like that, and working to finish the tallest unfinished building in the world, seem like signs of modernization. I also saw a small handful of actual advertisement billboards (as opposed to propaganda), all for what looked like a car dealership. Our guide mentioned that this was the only advertisement currently up. Add the commercial activities in the basement of the Yangakkdo Hotel... it seems like some form of (un)free enterprise is going on. At least, if you're a foreigner you can do business in North Korea.

Between the train blog and my experience, I've come to this conclusion: Outside of the world that's involved in tourism, nobody in North Korea knows that you're not supposed to be walking around unsupervised. So once you make it out of the "perimeter" you can pretty much do what you want. I took a few "walks" while I was there, and while I got a few strange looks on the street I was largely ignored.

(Caveat: Someone noticed, I think a guide on a tour bus that passed me by, and told my guide, who then had a little chat with me...)