You may or may not be aware that North Korea is in fact a democratic country. North Korea's full name, "the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" should be a dead give away.
It's just that it's not very good at being a democracy...
In the Index of Democracy (A list of all "Democratic" counties on the globe in descending order from most democratic to least democratic) North Korea is placed last out of the 167 Democratic Countries in the world.
But what exactly do we mean by democracy...?
Democracy is in incredibly hard concept to define, but because we are using the Index of Democracy it makes sense to use their conditions of a democracy. The index claims:
"Free and fair elections and civil liberties are necessary conditions for democracy, but they are unlikely to be sufficient for a full and consolidated democracy if unaccompanied by transparent and at least minimally efficient government, sufficient political participation and a supportive democratic political culture."
In order show that North Korea is not a democracy we need only show that North Korea fails to meet one of these two necessary conditions. This video will focus on refuting the claim that North Korea has free and fair elections.
A basic structure of North Korea's Government looks like this. Starting at the top we have Kim Jong-Un.
His official title is Supreme leader of North Korea. He inherited this title after the death of his Father, Kim Jong-Il.
Kim Jong-Il inherited that title after the death of his father, Eternal President of North Korea, Kim Il-Sung.
As supreme leader, Kim Jong-Un is head of the Korean People's Army - the land, sea and air armed forces of North Korea. He is also first secretary of the single dominating party of North Korea: The Workers Party of Korea.
There are however four political parties:
The Workers' Party of Korea
The Korean Social Democratic Society
Chondoist Chongu Party
General Association of Korean Residents in Japan.
However, the existence of these other three parties only creates the illusion of democracy.
The Worker's Party of Korea is the "ruling party" whilst The Korean Social Democratic Society, Chondoist Chongu Party, and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan form the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland.
This Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland is controlled by the Worker's Party of Korea.
This information was hard to establish because different sources emit certain political parties and fail to even explain their relationship. After digging enough it becomes very clear that these other parties merely satellites of the Workers Party of Korea. The Workers Party of Korea is the single party with Kim Jong-Un as the country's god.
The country begins to look even more like a dictatorship when you read the constitution of the country, article 12 defines the country as a "dictatorship of people's democracy". These two terms don't really go hand in hand. In fact it's like calling claiming that you husband is your wife and your husband at the same time - it makes no sense and you look stupid.
But what this term actually means is that the government acts on behalf of the people (that's the democracy part) but can use dictatorship to prevent anyone from altering things from the way they are. So if anyone wants change, they can't have it. (That's the dictatorship part).
The thinking behind this is that if "democracy" fails the country will be in a better state than if there were just dictatorship....
So within this dictatorship of democracy the vote itself ends up not being a vote at all. It is more of a formality people go through to prevent harm to themselves and their family.
In a vote each district has a single Candidate. Thus are a total of 687 candidates for the 687 seats in the Supreme People's Assembly. That single candidate is chosen by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland - which is the Workers Party of Korea but in a different T-Shirt.
If that choice isn't already limited enough the ballot paper seals the deal. The ballot paper consists of the Candidates name and one box to tick to say "Yes."
To vote no, you have to join a different queue and go to a different booth, cross out the candidates name, and then put your vote in a different box.
Defectors have recommended avoiding this "no" queue as to enter it would be considered an act of rebellion.
One defector told a news channel that most people don't know who their local candidate is and only vote because of the consequences - such as becoming a prime candidate for a concentration camp.
It is mandatory to vote if you are over 17 and not voting as well as voting no is considered treason - the crime of betraying one's country. Voting is a very handy way for the country to keep tabs on who is potential defector committing treason. People who have left the country often return to vote so that their family is safe. A defector that is caught could end up at the hell that is "Kaechon internment camp".
Criticizing the government is seen as a crime that is unredeemable. If a defector along with their entire family ends up here they will remain here for the rest of their life for endless labour. But because of North Korea's "three generations" policy their children also end up here for life, along with their children. Most people die in this place from malnourishment, illness of the after affects of torture.
Not surprisingly, Kim Jong-Un is his district got 100% of votes in his favour.
Now the real question is, is this election system free and fair?
We would say, No.
For starters, the excessive amount of fear the populace faces by thinking or opposing their government through democratic means could hardly be considered a form of freedom or fairness.
Secondly, as a single party state all of the satellite parties have to acknowledge the Korean Working Party as the leader and they cannot oppose the government. This lack of choice could hardly be considered fair.
Then there's the fact the ballot paper contains no fair choice...
So North Korea is not a democracy, the government knows it is not a democracy but pretend that it is.
And that is the Hypocrisy of North Korea's Democracy.
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