socialism is where the means of production become collective property. North korea is not one of these, and the embargo is destroying them either way. In fact, an embargo by the country that supplies the majority of your food will almost always hurt the country.
you see that massive fall right there? That's the country turning capitalist. In fact, 80% of the population voted against this, but revisionism was too powerful.
here are some links on how life actually was in the ussr
http://writetorebel.com/2016/12/16/popular-support-for-the-soviet-union/
http://writetorebel.com/2016/11/25/the-successes-of-socialism-in-the-ussr/
http://writetorebel.com/2016/11/13/socialism-and-democracy-in-the-ussr/
and here is a nice video that calculates the death toll of capitalism