This could well be disinformation funneled out from the Chinese. I still haven't decided that the Chinese and even the Russians don't see the DPRK as their remote control tool of terror. That's the simplest explanation for all of this contention, in my humble opinion. They made the DPRK, and it's still squarely in their geopolitical interests to maintain it as a force against the Allies. That could be changing as we try to woo the Russians over to our side, but it will take me a lifetime to believe that they still don't have global ambitions.
What purpose does it serve if it is indeed a disinformation?
I don't know about the Rusians but the Chinese communists definitely do.