Talk:North Korea/Archive 6

message: Right now the opening paragraph says that the DPRK government is a "Communist-led multi-party state" and any claims to the contrary are mixed with words such as "Western governments claim" to make them sound extremely unreliable.  I think there is no doubt that the NK government in practice functions as a dictatorship, and assuredly not a multiparty democracy, but for some reason there seems to be disagreement.  For those who are changing it, why do you think we should not call North Korea a dictatorship, or at the very least, an oligarchy?  Thanks, --Atb129 12:06, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: dprk actually holds elections every five years, and while the head of state is not directly elected, his advisers are I know this after speaking to people who have visited DPRK--Frogsprog 22:18, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: In these elections, is there more than one candidate for each opening?  Can you explain how aspiring nominees go about getting onto the ballot? Raymond Arritt 22:30, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: well they have to be in the democratic re-unification front, which is not a political party in itself, merely a national patriotic coalition, so basically to stand as a candidate you have to pledge full alleigence to DPRK --Frogsprog 22:31, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks. To get back to my original question, how many candidates are on the ballot for each opening? Raymond Arritt 22:48, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

text: *I dont know, and I very much doubt that information is released internationally, sorry --Frogsprog 22:59, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Interesting, thanks.  Since you imply that the people you have spoken with are familiar with the DPRK electoral system, it's surprising they never mentioned such a basic point. Raymond Arritt 00:35, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

text: the reason you are not certain would be because.. you're wrong. sorry but there are always at least two candidates, I'm just not clear on how many candidates for each parliamentary constituency --Frogsprog 12:18, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I would be interested to know if you have a verifiable source for this information, as it contradicts the assessment of DPRK elections by numerous NGOs. Raymond Arritt 14:07, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: well what I know of DPRK democracy is all original research really, any "verifiable source" would more than likely be from the yanks, so it would probably be anti DPRK --Frogsprog 16:32, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I see...  Raymond Arritt 19:56, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I find that highly patronising, what right do you have to judge DPRK? the only info you have on them is your govt's propaganda! Frogsprog 20:20, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

text: Hey, I didn't say I knew how many candidates there are for each constituency in North Korea, I just mentioned that the term "united front" seems to imply there's only one.  But of course we need a real source either way.  By the way, it doesn't appear to be correct that there are always at least two (serious) candidates.  See  and note that Kim Jong-il received 100% of the votes for his constituency, i.e. any hypothetical opponent did not even get his own vote.  There's nothing inherently undemocratic about that; it's common in many countries to have obviously popular candidates run unopposed in some races.  But it does mean that there aren't "always" at least two candidates.  --Reuben 19:07, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

text: BBC is government controlled, our labour government is controlled by George W Bush indirectly --Frogsprog 15:15, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

text: The PRESIDENT thanked Mr. Li Chun Sik for his presentation and asked about the electoral system. Mr. Li Chun Sik replied that the basic provisions governing the system were laid down in the Constitution and that elections were on the basis of universal direct suffrage with a secret ballot.  Constituencies elected roughly one member per 30,000 population. 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.
So indeed, the front chooses one candidate per seat, and the ordinary voters can only approve or disapprove. --Reuben 21:01, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Description of Government 

message: I have seen many references to the effect that the presidency of the DPRK was left vacant after the death of Kim Il-Sung. I have heard (I think from the BBC but I can't precisely remember) that Kim Il-Sung is still regarded as the President, making the DPRK the only nation to have a non-living head of state. Is this true or is it just a rumour? Walton monarchist89 09:44, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Great leader Kim Il Sung is the eternal president of the DPRK, his son, Dear Leader Kim Jong Il is the chairman of the defence commission, and the highest ranking officer of the army, so he runs the country in his father's honour --Frogsprog 16:34, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: OK, so the DPRK does indeed have a dead head of state. Thanks for this confirmation. Walton monarchist89 09:36, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Head of State

message: Does anyone have a reference for the motto? A Google search only yields Wikipedia mirrors. Pruneautalk 19:01, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The first website is that of a Role Playing Game; I doubt that the UN classifies any country as a "psychotic dictatorship". The second website clearly states that information was taken from Wikipedia. In the third website, Philip Coyle doesn't say anything about the motto; the journalist does, and I am not sure that qualifies as a reliable source. Pruneautalk 09:24, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Motto