North Korea actually didn't become an independent country until 1948 when the DPRK was established. Before this Japan ruled over both Koreas (which were one nation at the time) from 1910-1945, and prior to that Korea was ruled by various dynasties, most notably the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910) which was responsible for the creation of the modern Korean language alphabet.

The fallout of WW2 liberated Korea from the occupation of Japan, but spawned the differing ideologies that led to the Korean War, and ultimately the current situation of the two Koreas today.

To answer your question though, Korea under Japanese rule is largely considered a dark time in Korean history, something which haunts Japanese and Korean relations to this day. During this period oppression was widespread; Korean women were used as sex slaves by the Japanese government among other things, but there was no mass famine as far as I'm aware, and even though dissenting was criminalized it certainly was not a police state to the extent that North Korea is today. As for its economy, rapid industrialization did take place in Korea at this time, particularly in the North. Perhaps someone more well-versed in this era can add to this.

The current landscape of North Korea is more so a product from 1990 onward. A result of the Soviet Union's collapse, the massive famine of the '90s, and the political isolation of the DPRK by Western countries. In fact, North Korea was more prosperous than South Korea under the early years of Kim Il-Sung up until around the 1980s.