This is the first part of a two-part series examining the similarities – and differences – between North Korea and the superpower which created it.

One of the most common stereotypes about North Korea is that the country is essentially a small copy of the Soviet Union. 

The similarities are, indeed, hard to deny. But the DPRK is different from its creator state to the same extent that a child is different from his or her parent (i.e. quite different).

First of all, it should be noted that one cannot talk about “the USSR in general” or “the DPRK in