u/FerrisTriangle - originally from r/GenZhou
There is a big difference between poverty in a capitalist system where poverty is a cudgel that is used to coerce labor from the working class on behalf of the ownership class, and poverty under a socialist system where you are participating in a system that is trying its best to meet all of your needs but comes up short in a few places due to the brutal sanctions and isolation that is all but forced on your country.

There is a lot more stress and hardship associated with poverty in a capitalist system, because you are constantly forced to justify your existence and "earn a living" if you want to avoid things like housing insecurity, food insecurity, health insecurity, and so on. Those same pressures are not present, or are not nearly as prevalent in a socialist system. Housing insecurity isn't something that citizens in the DPRK are constantly threatened with.