They have also had the longest on going embargo on earth right after they were nearly wiped out by a genocidal war on behalf of the US.
I don't doubt their history explains the shape of their economy.
This may seem like I am defending North Korea, but in reality I am putting in perspective who/why they are. Facts which nearly amount propaganda to western nations.
I don't think it's right to blame ordinary North Koreans for the state of their country like that. Clearly it has more to do with the paranoid authoritarianism of 1 guy, rather than the collective war trauma of the people. Just look at South Korea, the other party of that "genocidal war". They moved on a long time ago, because their national politics allowed them to.