North Korea is one of the most unequal countries on the planet, so that's not a very good example. In fact they aren't even officially committed to equality, never mind how it works in practice. They dropped any leftist rhetoric in the 1990s, and now are a country based on the "Juche Idea" (a kind of idiosyncratic religion) combined with the "Military First" economic principle (that resources should be unequally divided, with the majority going to people connected with the military).
Yeah, I'm not really sure of the political message of the comparison. It's not surprising that wealthier people live in nicer areas with more greenspace....
Income inequality is not the enemy - in fact it is what incentivizes our economy and ultimately builds wealth for everyone. Corruption, lack of opportunity, abject poverty - those are the problems.
He may have thought so because the phrase "income inequality" is usually used in the context of describing it negatively (in the US at least). I guarantee you that the phrase "income inequality" is used by Democrats in the Senate/House 10x as much as Republicans. No Republican is ever going to say their tax cuts for the wealthy "increase income inequality", they'll say it "helps the job creators create jobs".
Edits: Wow, I need to learn to make sure I reread sentences in full when I go back and reword something.