The article is pretty accurate, although it still doesn't show the full picture of what goes on over in that hell hole.
The North Koreans are on subsistence diets, meaning that they get barely enough calories to stay alive. Famine and malnutrition are common, and the quality of life is poor.
The only ones who get a decent standard of living, are those who are in the military.
The people there are brainwashed, as many of them were indoctrinated to worship their "great leader," Kim Il Sung, as a god. If anything, it was the elder Kim who put many policies in place prior to his death, to ensure that the miserable Communist method of governing would stay in place.
Anyone who speaks out against the Kim regime, or against the "godly" name of Kim Il Sung, essentially gets shuttled off to a modern day concentration camp, eventually to die there from neglect, abuse, starvation, or even execution.
In the end, Kim Jong Il, the current leader, ended up being nothing more than a foppish playboy, who spends most of his time drunk and high, enjoying various delicacies, while his people stave, and his trustees go around ruling the nation with an iron fist.
In my opinion, I really doubt that Kim Jong Il holds any of the real power, and that it's the Kim Il Sung-appointed trustees who wield the true power there. I suspect that after Kim Jon Il passes away (and that can't come soon enough), the 27 year old son who is expected to be the "figurehead" is going to be even more of a sock puppet for this board of trustees.
Unless the people revolt, and utterly tear down this Stalinistic regime, I highly doubt things are going to change.