NK is 60% urbanized, higher than many ex soviet bloc countries. My uncle goes there for business, and other global south countries as well. In his assessment, e

NK is 60% urbanized, higher than many ex soviet bloc countries. My uncle goes there for business, and other global south countries as well. In his assessment, everyday NK living conditions better than most of global poor. Compared it to a clean tier3 PRC city from the 90s, pretty ordered, few cars, lots of bikes, few advertisement, clean. Sterile and boring but in his opinion, preferrable to filthy urban centres else where. Same with the rural hamlets he went to. Sucks during winter. He found it charming enough over all. Reality is NK still holding on to residual industrial prowess - it takes some competent state organization to build nukes - and that translates into other parts of civil structures. More countries can't do what NK does, than can. There was a survey where 1/5th of NK defectors in SK were willing to return north, citing nostalgia. Anecdotally that's more than my experience talking diasphora from ex soviet republics in Canada. Of course uncle wasn't there during periods of crisis where gov whent full Juche.