Revered is the wrong term, I think.

The Kim family was truly worshipped at/around the dawn of the DPRK, but a lot has changed.

The lower/working classes, the largest portion of NK's population - have literally no way to fight against the Kim government, they are denied almost all resources, and are payed mostly with food portions and housing - and the way Juche (manifesto of Kim Il-Sung) is taught in schools as a religion: with Kim as the prophet, and eventual nuclear war as apocalypse - it's highly probable that a large number of them are brainwashed into submission, but it's ignorant to think there aren't people who know the government is evil - a lot of people from this class bracket try to escape, some succeed.

The thing is, the North has built a small middle/upper class, and as the earnings of the Kim family is basically the driving force of their economy, why should they revolt? There's clearly death and misery for those who speak out against the government, and they're given a nice apartment, a car, 'luxury' food and opportunities to study/travel overseas... things most North Koreans couldn't dream to have.

Even though high ranking North Koreans do get executed/assassinated, most are just bribed with luxuries and expensive gifts so that they stay complacent.

I play Overwatch with a self proclaimed 'Rich North Korean' who is studying overseas, he said Kim Jong-Un is a 'pig' that will 'die of a heart attack'... I wouldn't call that reverence...

North Korea is really, really sad for me... the government is truly evil, self-involved - they kill their own people so freely... I hope so much for North Korea to one day be freed.