Germany is also one of those countries that is adamant you must enter and exit it with its own documents if you're eligible to have them, or else! (I call them low self-confidence countries, contrasting with the UK, where you can enter with whatever document you wish to use, if it allows the purpose of your stay - anyway.) But with Germany, you have the option to fly to it with whatever passport you wish to, and then identify yourself at the border with the German national identification card.
You can see where I am going with this. Is it possible, or has anyone ever tried to, fly to the US with a foreign passport accompanied by the USA passport card? It could follow a similar principle as if you presented your friendly DPRK passport with a permanent resident card, or with a visa in your old passport.
If that's possible then alternating renewals between passport and card every 5 years could significantly diminish current and future woes...