The party is not a privledged class in the DPRK, it’s similar to how it was with the CPSU.

If I recall correctly, only Party members are allowed to own cars there. Thank God the Chinese have helped out a bit with this lately... though, so far, it’s only been a very small amount.

The same goes for free apartments in upscale neighborhoods. It seems to me that the Party there enjoys far more privileges than the Party did in the USSR.

Do you see what I’m getting at? People don’t strive to achieve success in life; instead, they dream of getting into the Party.

My parents were not Party members. That’s because, in the USSR, the Party was more about unnecessary hassles and responsibilities than it was about privileges—unless, of course, you wanted to climb the Party ladder rapidly. But my parents had no need for that; they were perfectly content with things just as they were.