The Nork government has little about it that is Communist in any real sense of the word, other than rhetoric.
It has instead reverted to a loonnggg history of God-Kings and rule by military officials, that goes back probably close to 2000 years before conquest by Japan around 1900.
This history includes repeated vicious court faction fights, with the losers (and their supporters, extended families, etc.) generally purged up into the tens of thousands of people.
Then a few years later another faction would get on top and repeat the process. This history is addressed somewhat obliquely in the Korean movie War of the Arrows.
Don't see much discussion of this, as the media doesn't seem to be aware that Korea is a country with a very long history.
They just have to look good, they don't have to be clear.