Why wouldn't N. Korea burn flares by the millions to upstage their neighbors? They could as well use them as misinformation. That is unless they don't have any.
My mind is a quagmire of humor that even I don't understand. I laugh at my own joke that I thought were never funny in the first place.
Furthermore, I don't doubt that the effectiveness of American air cover, indirect artillery, and NGF support during the Korean War was so superb that North Korea would have black outs even if they did have energy to spare.