north Korea following South Korea?

I took PJ and AM to 1776 the musical last Sunday.  I wasn't sure how much AM got out of it, though I had the impression that by the intermission (about 2/3 of the way through the play) he had had enough and that much of it went over his head. There was an ongoing gag in 1776 at the continental congress that North Carolina kept deferring to the decision of South Carolina.

Later he was talking to DH, and somehow North Korea came up.  AM piped up and asked: "Oh, in the play they kept deferring to South Korea?"