He's protected by China, who act like the older brother guardians of a mentally-unstable violent little brother. It's not just this fat kid but a whole regime machine that profits from the poverty of the larger population, like any socialist system. The Chinese have been there themselves, they had a Marxist revolution that left the country poverty-stricken and backward for decades until the 90s when capitalism was allowed again in return for continuing a one-party state. They probably are hoping that NK can transition the same way, and I hope both countries will become free-market capitalist one day so they may be free.