People’s Democratic Republic of Korea

Democracy? Algeria People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria 117/167 Authoritarian regime DR Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo 162/167 East Timor Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste 46/167 Flawed democracy Ethiopia Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 124/167 Laos Lao People’s Democratic Republic 157/167 North Korea Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 167/167 Nepal Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal 105/167 Hybrid regime São Tomé and Príncipe Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe N/A   Sri Lanka Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 87/167 Western Sahara Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

UN action by 16 countries to liberate S. Korea Conflict ended with an armistice, but an official treaty ending the war has not been signed.

1984 (Published 1948) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9JIKngJnCU

The Kim Dynasty Kim Il Sung (Founder) Revered as a god and not believed to actually be dead Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Un (Current leader)

The US plays a central role in regime propaganda N. Koreans are taught that attack from the US is ever present, and only the regime can protect the people. The US started the war, and has since enslaved S. Korea The image of a persistent threat gives the regime legitimacy

A workers Paradise?

Ten Principles We must give our all in the struggle to unify the entire society with the revolutionary ideology of the Great Leader Kim Il-sung. We must honor the Great Leader comrade Kim Il-sung with all our loyalty. We must make absolute the authority of the Great Leader comrade Kim Il-sung. We must make the Great Leader comrade Kim Il-sung's revolutionary ideology our faith and make his instructions our creed. We must adhere strictly to the principle of unconditional obedience in carrying out the Great Leader comrade Kim Il-sung's instructions. We must strengthen the entire party's ideology and willpower and revolutionary unity, centering on the Great Leader comrade Kim Il-sung.

We must learn from the Great Leader comrade Kim Il-sung and adopt the communist look, revolutionary work methods and people-oriented work style. We must value the political life we were given by the Great Leader comrade Kim Il-sung, and loyally repay his great political trust and thoughtfulness with heightened political awareness and skill. We must establish strong organizational regulations so that the entire party, nation and military move as one under the one and only leadership of the Great Leader comrade Kim Il-sung. We must pass down the great achievement of the revolution by the Great Leader comrade Kim Il-sung from generation to generation, inheriting and completing it to the end.

Elections Supreme People’s Assembly (Parliament) held every 4 years There are three parties all a part of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland All candidates are members of the DFRF Candidates are nominated by the parties and approves by the Central Electoral Committee Only one candidate appears on the ballot It is a secret ballot in theory, unless you choose not to vote for the candidate on the ballot, then it must be open The Assembly has no legislative powers

Life in Pyongyang

6:00, wake up, breakfast 7:30, read government reports 8:00, work begins 12:00 lunch 17:00 Work ends, self criticism and employee criticism sessions 20:00 sleep Frequent power cuts. Tall buildings have no, few or dysfunctional elevators. Propaganda boxes cannot be turned off

Rural Life Areas outside of Pyongyang are more impoverished Lack of clean drinking water, electricity Tied to agricultural production quotas which are difficult to meet

Political Dissent Low level dissent has come in the form of mild criticism, attempts to access the outside world, and the emergence of private markets. Before Kim Jong Un took power, moderate dissent began to emerge from the country’s elite After he took power, he executed his uncle Jang Song-thaek, second in command of the country, by use of an anti-aircraft gun. Other high ranking officials have been disposed of

The Outside World: Communications Only specially selected government officials can access the internet. Kwangmyong, which includes an email server, search engine, a number of user-created websites that are closely monitored by the government, and some filtered content from the outside Web. Few people own a computer 20,000 people own mobile phones To have a land line phone you must make a special request. Calls are monitored.

Hostile Acts! Criticizing the government Using a phone to receive or make calls outside of the country Attempting to leave the country Engaging with foreigners Possession of Western or Korean, films, music Accessing the internet Having and unapproved haircut

Failing to have a portrait of the Leader in your home or failing to keep it clean Not being sufficiently sad when political leaders die Not being sufficiently supportive of a leader’s speech

Labor Camps Hard labor from 6:00 – 20:00 Torture, rape, starvation, execution Up to three generations of a family can be imprisoned for one person’s actions

Is North Korea a Democratic Republic?

Not really