Yea yea I know, not all contradictions imply a fundamental error.
This line is currently in popular usage by online liberals who are forced to work through their 
as China ascends, as DPRK approaches normalization, as Iran demonstrates its regional force, as Ukraine inevitably loses, as the US murders and still loses, as Sahel states inch toward sovereignty. These contradictions are becoming more striking and difficult to hand-wave. And in the first phase of this dissonance, the reflex is to allow the dissonance no matter how deafening.
When was the last time the dprk triple tapped a school and killed ~170 children? When was the last time they bombed or invaded ANY country?
I don’t think the dprk is some perfect utopia where nothing bad ever happens, but I believe that most problems they face are from the fact they have been under siege from the west pretty much their entire existence.