Not well. The Soviet Union was a major benefactor of the North Korea and Kim Il Sung had more or less ensured the survival of the state by continuing to play the Soviets off against the Chinese to maximize the aid to North Korea. With the demise of the Soviets the Chinese were able to drastically cut their funding to the regime as Kim Il Jung had nowhere else to turn.

Internally, the regime reemphasized the doctrine of Juche, or self-reliance. This served two purposes; too reemphasize the uniqueness/rightness of the North Korean political system and to make up for the shortfall in aid. However, the agricultural system of North Korea was rife with inefficiencies and decades behind technologies of the time making it difficult/impossible to fill the gap in the best of times. Weather was particularly bad during the period as a series of typhoons and droughts severely reduced production leading to famine.

An exacerbating factor to the famine was that Kim Il Sung, and Kim Jong Il funneled additional resources to the military in order to maintain their loyalty and use them as the base of power/legitimacy for the regime. While this ensured the viability of the regime in the post-Soviet era it also led to greater suffering among the general population.