No One says its a utopia, we Just Say It was portrayed worse than it Is.

Like sharks ig

Ah yes the two options, secret utopia or literal mordor. These are the parameters of a very serious conversation

His parents denied an autopsy after he died, and the doctor that examined him found no evidence of mistreatment. It seems likely that he contracted illness like botulism, and was returned before his sentence was complete as a show of good will. The denial of an autopsy left it credible that he was tortured to death, which is how the story was reported in the west, but there's no actual evidence for this narrative beyond the coma of unclear origin.

Regardless, nobody is saying the DPRK is a utopia. There are good aspects to the DPRK, but more than anything it is a real country, not literally Mordor as many westerners make it out to be. The image of a hellscape is used to justify sanctions and dehumanization of northern Koreans.