I don't think the two are mutually exclusive - if we were going to liberate North Korea, the point would be largely to let the North Korean citizens live free o

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive - if we were going to liberate North Korea, the point would be largely to let the North Korean citizens live free of their horrifically oppressive government. You just have to distinguish between the culture of a country as defined by the traditions and history of its people and the culture as defined by the government, particularly if the government is a dictatorship. The former is good and should be preserved (generally) while the latter is generally to the detriment of the former.