Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union whose reforms ultimately led to the dissolution of the superpower and fall of the Iron Curtain, died at the age of 91 on Tuesday, according to Russian media.

But while few individuals have had as significant an impact on recent history as Gorbachev, North Korea will not be among those mourning his loss.

Pyongyang looked on with contemptin the late 1980s as the Soviet reformer carried out his policy of perestroika, or restructuring, believing it to be a betrayal of socialism. And the regime has long held up the Soviet