north korea would be the only country to survive due to them being the only ones to do whatever it takes to keep the virus out of the country
Well, the disease's present mortality rate is about 3.4% and once we start testing whole populations and see that we aren't recording the majority of cases, that mortality rate will drop below 1%.
No nation has ever failed to survive due to a 1% die off. Many populations, biologically speaking, see strong benefits from occasional minor die offs.
All the indicators at that North Korea is hit hard. Kim closed borders to all outsiders on Jan 22- very early which suggests early infection. No. Korea's official report is that there are no cases but intelligence reports are that No Korea has been urgently pleading for tests, masks, respirators, etc for months Kim did not order social distancing until last week and still hasn't told his subjects to stay at home.
No Korea is particularly vunerable: aging pop with high rates of heart and lung disease, tuberculosis and hepatitis are endemic, many men still smoke and a healthcare system decades behind most countries.
If we were ever able to discover the truth about COVID in No Korea, I'd expect to see much higher rates of infection and death than most places.