elections in North Korea

In reply to a question put forth by Michael Marshall, Li Chun Sik of North Korea stated at a meeting of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) of the Inter-Parliamentary Union:{{cite web | title=The Parliamentary System of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea | publisher=Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) of the Inter-Parliamentary Union | work=Constitutional and Parliamentary Information | url=http://www.asgp.co/sites/default/files/documents//CJOZSZTEPVVOCWJVUPPZVWPAPUOFGF.pdf | access-date=1 October 2010 | pages=17–18 | archive-date=3 March 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303054935/http://www.asgp.info/Resources/Data/Documents/CJOZSZTEPVVOCWJVUPPZVWPAPUOFGF.pdf | url-status=dead }}

{{blockquote|While candidates could be nominated by anyone, it was the practice for all candidates to be nominated by the parties. These nominations were examined by the United Reunification Front and then by the Central Electoral Committee, which allocated candidates to seats. The candidate in each seat was then considered by the electors in meetings at the workplace or similar, and on election day the electors could then indicate approval or disapproval of the candidate on the ballot paper.}}

Only one candidate appears on each ballot.{{cite news|title=North Korea votes for new rubber-stamp parliament|date=8 March 2009|publisher=Associated Press}}{{cite news | title= Kim wins re-election with 99.9% of the vote | work= The New York Times | date= 9 March 2009 | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/world/asia/09iht-north.1.20696199.html}} Elections are nominally conducted by secret ballot, although in practice the voting process affords no secrecy for dissent. Voting is mandatory and turnout is habitually near 100%.{{Cite magazine | title = Inside North Korea's sham election | author = Emily Rauhala | magazine = Time | date = 10 March 2014 | access-date = 24 April 2015 | url = https://time.com/17720/north-korea-election-a-sham-worth-studying/ }}

Members of the Supreme People's Assembly are elected to five-year terms, and meet for SPA sessions up to ten days per year.{{cite web | title=The Parliamentary System of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea | publisher=Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) of the Inter-Parliamentary Union | work=Constitutional and Parliamentary Information | url=http://www.asgp.co/sites/default/files/documents//CJOZSZTEPVVOCWJVUPPZVWPAPUOFGF.pdf | access-date=1 October 2010 | archive-date=3 March 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303054935/http://www.asgp.info/Resources/Data/Documents/CJOZSZTEPVVOCWJVUPPZVWPAPUOFGF.pdf | url-status=dead }} The Supreme People's Assembly elects a standing committee known as the Standing Committee, which exercises legislative functions when the Assembly is not in session which in practice is all but a few days of the year. It also elects the President of the State Affairs Commission, the country's head of state and highest state office, and the premier, the country's de jure head of government.{{cite book|title=The Far East and Australasia 2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LclscNCTz9oC&pg=PA680|edition=34th|year=2002|publisher=Europa Publications|location=London|isbn=978-1-85743-133-9|page=680}}

In 2023, the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly amended and supplemented North Korea's election law.{{Cite news |last=Kim |first=Soo-yeon |date=6 November 2023 |title=N. Korea to field multiple candidates to pick deputies for local assemblies |work=Yonhap News Agency |url=https://m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20231108005051315 |access-date=11 November 2023}} Minju Choson, the newspaper of the cabinet and the SPA Standing Committee, stated that North Korea would implement a primary-like system in some constituencies, fielding two candidates to pick the nominee in the single-candidate main elections for People's Assemblies at every level.{{Cite web |date=31 August 2023 |title=조선민주주의인민공화국 최고인민회의 상임위원회 제１４기 제２７차전원회의 진행 |url=https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1693434914-989139270/%EC%A1%B0%EC%84%A0%EB%AF%BC%EC%A3%BC%EC%A3%BC%EC%9D%98%EC%9D%B8%EB%AF%BC%EA%B3%B5%ED%99%94%EA%B5%AD-%EC%B5%9C%EA%B3%A0%EC%9D%B8%EB%AF%BC%ED%9A%8C%EC%9D%98-%EC%83%81%EC%9E%84%EC%9C%84%EC%9B%90%ED%9A%8C/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=KCNA Watch |language=en-US}} The candidates would be reviewed for qualifications such as loyalty and "revolutionary mindset". Previously, the candidates were solely picked by the WPK, and this change would mark the first competitive elections in North Korea since 1948.{{Cite news |last=Kim |first=Jieun |date=8 November 2023 |title=For the first time since 1948, North Koreans given a choice in an election |work=Radio Free Asia |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/election-11082023155605.html |access-date=11 November 2023}} The local elections would also drop using the voting system where the voter would cross off the candidate's name to vote against them, switching to using two different colored ballot boxes for “yes” and “no” votes.{{Cite news |last=Kim |first=Jeongmin |date=10 November 2023 |title=North Korean election reform does not guarantee right to vote, Seoul says |work=NK News |url=https://www.nknews.org/2023/11/north-korean-election-reform-does-not-guarantee-right-to-vote-seoul-says/ |access-date=11 November 2023}}

Local elections have been held since 1999.{{Cite web | title = North Korea elections: What is decided and how? | work = BBC News | date = 19 July 2015 | access-date = 26 November 2015 | url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33584638 }} The people elect representatives to city, county, and provincial people's assemblies in local elections every four years. The number of representatives is determined by the population of each jurisdiction.{{cite web |url=http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?num=13264&cataId=nk01700|title=NK to hold local elections next month |author=Kim Seong Hwan |date=10 June 2015 |website=Daily NK |access-date=11 June 2015 }} In 2023, the introduction of a two-candidate method in some localities, with a primary election to elect the final candidate for the local assembly in these areas, commenced as a trial method.

Regarding this, scholar Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul stated that "They have a dual system: there is a mayor/governor, technically elected (but actually appointed), and there is a city/province party secretary. It is the latter who has real power, but mayor/governor can be important in some cases as long as he knows his proper place and does not challenge the Workers' Party of Korea secretary."{{cite web|url=http://www.nknews.org/2015/06/north-koreas-local-elections-coming-in-july/|title=North Korea's local elections coming in July|last=York|first=Rob|website=NK News|date=9 June 2015|access-date=11 June 2015}}

The elections have been variously described as show elections or a political census.{{cite news|author=Choe Sang-Hun|title=North Korea Uses Election To Reshape Parliament|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/10/world/asia/north-korea.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=9 March 2014|access-date=18 March 2014}}{{cite news |last=Hotham|first=Oliver|date=3 March 2014|title=The weird, weird world of North Korean elections|url=http://www.nknews.org/2014/03/the-weird-weird-world-of-north-korean-elections/|newspaper=NK News|access-date=17 July 2015}} Seats are uncompetitive as all candidates are chosen by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea.{{Updateinline|date=March 2024|reason=DFRK no longer exists.}} Because of the near 100% turnout, elections double as unofficial censuses. The inminban neighborhood watch-style organization reportedly watches the elections to identify and investigate no-shows.

South Korean news reporter, Dae Young-kim, claims that there are separate boxes for "no" votes.{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/07/local-elections-north-korea-bring-change-150718180133222.html|title=Foregone result in North Korea's local elections|author1=Alma Milisic|publisher=Al-Jazeera English|date=19 July 2015}} According to him, voting against the official candidate, or refusing to vote at all, is considered an act of treason, and those who do face the loss of their jobs and housing, along with extra surveillance.

{{Election results

|alliance1=Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea|Fatherland Front|aspan1=8|party1=Workers' Party of North Korea|votes1=|seats1=157

|party2=Chondoist Chongu Party|votes2=|seats2=35

|party3=Korean Social Democratic Party|Korean Democratic Party|votes3=|seats3=35

|party4=Laboring People's Party|votes4=|seats4=20

|party5=People's Republic Party|votes5=|seats5=20

|party6=Democratic Independent Party|votes6=|seats6=20

|party7=Other parties|votes7=|seats7=171

|party8=Independents|votes8=|seats8=114

}}

{{Election results

|alliance1=Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea|Fatherland Front|aspan1=5|party1=Workers' Party of Korea|vspan1=5|seats1=682|sspan1=4

|party2=Korean Social Democratic Party

|party3=Chondoist Chongu Party

|party4=Independents

|party5=Chongryon|seats5=5

}}

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{{Portal|North Korea|Politics}}

• Politics of North Korea
• List of political parties in North Korea

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{North Korean elections|state=uncollapsed}}

{{Asia topic|Elections in}}

{{North Korea topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elections In North Korea}}