Do you mean labor camps? A one-party system? Government-run media? Show trials? Abolition of religion and closing of houses of worship? Imprisonment for criticizing the government? The entire economy run by a few clueless officials? Government permission needed to travel from city to city? Limited or no due process of law? Enforced collectivization of agriculture and industry? Oligarchy? No news but official propaganda? Extensive secret police network? Abolition of free enterprise? Food lines? Years-long waiting lists for vacations, apartments, etc.? Truly rotten public services? Minorities shipped to arbitrarily identified "autonomous (but really not)regions"? Declared interests of the state always put ahead of the individual? All art, music, and literary criticism based on the doctrines of nineteenth-century economists Marx & Engels? Parliament of yes-men? The official encyclopedia of world knowledge constantly revised by the government to fit the latest propaganda view - with all mention of certain important historical figures deleted for being too controversial to know about? Rigged elections? Threats and brute force used to quash all political dissent?

Not much similarity that I can see.