An eight-lane super highway in North Korea is almost devoid of traffic in this image taken by Swedish photographer Björn Bergman. The road – which stretches around 160km from capital Pyongyang to the border with South Korea – is also in a state of disrepair
It's nothing but a propaganda campaign.
and your last statement barely applies. those people are conditioned since birth to the cult of the kims and led to believe that their long hours and minimal living conditions are due to america persecuting them. in their eyes, kim is doing his very best to keep them alive despite everything. those who fail to share that full belief tend to disappear overnight, along with their families.
Also, you'll be surprised if you see the full picture of life in the _South_ Korea. About same degree of totalitarian control (say, they claim 150 000 dissidents to be missing in just 1979-87, when Chun Doo-hwan ruled the country) , but performed much differently.