Well Lineage suffered here in the west likely because it was UO/Diablo sprite style when it was release in the NA in 2001, 3 years after it came out in Korea. By then Everquest had been around with 3D for more than 2 years and that December launched their updated graphics engine with there 3rd expansion.
What I find interesting is that Lineage II, a 3D prequel to Lineage, now has more sales outside of Korea than within it. Also that the 2D sprite Lineage is still going strong (Number 1 MMORPG in Korea last week according to GameNote) after nearly 15 years.
I sort of wonder if Lineage 1 is so popular over there because the average Korean cannot afford a better PC to run a proper 3D game.... Just a guess though.
And can North Koreans even access computers or play games? Or is it just South Korea that everyone refers to concerning Korean games? I can't imagine North Koreans would be allowed to mix with South Koreans or anyone else in the world for that matter, even in a simple gaming chat, what with their government being so overbearing....
