I wasn't insulting communists. Russia is not communist. It's a gangster-capitalist imperialist oligarchy, which is why it's weird that tankies go to bat for it.
I was insulting Russia for tanking their own economy by starting a punitive and barbaric war against their neighbor and then fucking up the war and their own relations with the entire rest of the world. There was no insult to North Korea, I was simply holding them up as an example of one of the handful of countries that Russia can still trade with. I do also like to insult North Korea but for reasons that have nothing at all to do with racism.
Want me to replace it with Iran? I have a great deal more respect for Iran than I do for either Russia or North Korea and the joke still works. It would also technically be accurate to say that they can still trade with China, which sort of undoes the joke a little bit and makes it not funny. But that would be racist also, too? I guess, since bringing up a country populated by non-white people is automatically racist in your mind? I think Iran, like I say that one I have respect for so there's no room for accidental racist implication. Want me to replace it with Iran?