> If there were a vibrant industrial or creative community in North Korea to interact with, I’d see the light in this argument. But there isn’t.

This is entirely false. For example, North Korea has, believe it or not, a booming software development outsourcing industry (mostly apps I think). Their labor is dirt cheap and they're apparently not half bad at what they do.

I believe the same goes for any other type of labor: If you're willing to violate trade sanctions, you can get anything from there for a penny.