Claims of "North Korea stuck in Middle Age" greatly exaggerated
It's always fun to have a larf at the expense of the Norks, and it's somewhat of a Vulture tradition.
But the sentiment expressed in many of these comments and in recent media brouhaha RE: NK documentary disregards the fact that many of the actual people there aren't dumb (just like elsewhere).
There is a huge underground economy powering much of the country, feeding people (you can't just eat imaginary peaches grown on an imaginary farm) etc, and owning/operating all the latest tech kit from China within the reach of the northern border.
And the party leaders quietly accept that, too, so that people don't fall over dead in the street all the time.
You can't just promise them a bowl of kim-chee and have 500,000 soldiers turn up for a military parade, you have to give it to them as well, so you have to go to the black market to buy a few heads of cabbage and such beforehand.