>>507298381That's partly because 30 years ago, things were really bad for them because they relied on the Soviet Union for their supply of daily necessities.
After the Soviet Union's collapse, If they had followed the example of the Chinese, who experienced the Sino-Soviet split, their regime would have collapsed immediately. There is no doubt that the complete collapse of their economy and society, which was based on the existence of the Soviet Union, would have been inevitable.
However, Kim was wise and had no intention of relinquishing his dynasty. Thus, under a de facto isolationist regime, they developed nuclear weapons to tell the ZOG to "fuck off" while taking a great deal of time to recover their economy.
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Don't think that their society is rosy in contrast to Zog's propaganda. Efforts to stabilize a once crumbling society came at an unimaginable cost, something that probably only a so-called dictator could have done.