Is North Korea really an atheist state?

Many believers might argue that such misplaced devotion is a likely consequence of suppressing the true religious instinct. It’s not immediately obvious to me, however, why it’s better to worship a non-existent, or, to put the most optimistic spin on it, an invisible entity about whom we know nothing, than a concrete human being. It is not the case that worshipping an absent deity is less prone to producing fanatical and murderous excess. At least with a living being we know what we’re getting.