N. Koreans cast ballots in local elections

North Koreans cast ballots Sunday in state-controlled polls to elect new representatives put forward by the ruling party for assemblies at provincial, city and county levels, state media said.

Of course, as The Economist reported this morning, there isn’t a lot of choice: the ballot paper includes one candidate for each position in their local area, each of which represents the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland (that’s Kim Jong-Un’s party, naturally).

All polling stations were “clad in a festive atmosphere” with voters dancing and singing, as indicated by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency.

“It’s comical when they claim to have 100 per cent turnout because it defies reality”, Daniel Pinkston, an analyst with The global Crisis Group in Seoul, told The Telegraph. “Or on a ship at sea?”

It’s time to show North Koreans as real people, they argue, even though getting information on the country, especially outside Pyongyang, remains enormously hard.

Activities are occurring at “full throttle” in North Korea, the pro-North Korea Japanese newspaper Choson Sinbo reported, with voters “stirred up” in anticipation of election day, “elevating the mood of the election”, reports UPI. But anyone who has experienced their country being boiled down to a few stock images can appreciate the attempt to go further.

With the every move closely scrutinised, it would be an act of extreme bravery in a nation that is not known for tolerating dissenting voices for that to happen.

Kim also replaced his defense minister in April.

The results of the election will officially be announced in the early part of next week, although no upsets are anticipated.