Signs of unrest ahead of North Korea elections Damage to election notices, troops patrolling polling stations indicate tensions in a democracy with a single name on ballot papers North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un By Julian Ryall, Tokyo1:53PM GMT 08 Mar 2014 Notice boards calling on the people of North Korea to vote for Kim Jong-un in Sunday’s general election have been damaged or destroyed at a number of polling stations, according to sources within the country. Incidents that analysts describe as “extreme” for North Korea have been reported in at least two provinces, with state security troops withdrawn from border protection duties to patrol polling stations and to make sure that the first election in the country since 2009 goes off without a hitch. The election of deputies to the 13th Supreme People’s Assembly will also be the first time that Mr Kim has stood for the rubber-stamp North Korean parliament. Mr Kim is representing the constituency of Mount Paektu, the mountain on the Chinese border that has been imbued with almost religious significance because it is the place where North Korean legend has it that his father was born. Historians generally accept that Kim Jong-il was actually born in a refugee camp in the Soviet Union. Mr Kim is backed in his election campaign by the Workers’ Party of Korea and his is the only name on the ballot paper. He is expected to win. Related Articles Rare footage of Kim Jong-un judging shooting contest 06 Mar 2014 N Korea missile launch narrowly missed civilian flight 06 Mar 2014 North Korea goes to the polls - with only one candidate to choose from 03 Mar 2014 N Korea fires short-range missiles 03 Mar 2014 But reports of demonstrations of opposition to the tightly choreographed election suggest that the young leader does not have the whole-hearted support of his subjects. A local civil servant who is also one of the “citizen journalists” who report on events inside North Korea for the Japan-based Asiapress International news agency said there have been sporadic cases of “sabotage carried out at polling stations. In Jongju City, in North Pyongan Province, a notice board was torn down and destroyed, he said. When the damage was noticed, the head of the local State Security Department was accused of permitting the sabotage to be carried out. “This caused a big fuss and currently the polling stations are under 24-hour surveillance,” the local official told Asiapress. “Many people have been mobilised to provide security, regardless of the time, day or night.” And although trivial by the standards of demonstrations of democracy in other countries, the Jongju incident has had far-reaching consequences in the world’s only dynastic communist dictatorship, with military patrols stepped up. Another contributor to the agency’s coverage of events inside North Korea said a special security task force that was previously sent to the border with China was recently sent to Hyesan City, in Ryangang Province, where there are more reports of unrest. The show of force apparently worked and the troops were withdrawn. “When the election campaign is over, they may be deployed to the region again,” the local reporter told Jiro Ishimaru, the editor of the agency. “But for now, all the crackdown teams of the State Security Department have been withdrawn.” A key part of election campaigns in North Korea is the erection of boards and posters bearing images that invoke the spirit of “Juche,” or national self-dependence under the Kim dynasty. The slogans include such exhortations as “We all vote yes!” or Consolidate our revolutionary sovereignty! The images that have appeared in the run-up to this election, however, feature Mr Kim more prominently, according to sources within North Korea, and bear messages such as “Long live the uninterrupted revolutionary sovereignty that is led by our Dear Comrade Kim Jong-un.” North Korea-watchers believe Mr Kim is attempting to consolidate his power base after just over two years in power. State-run media is also busy extolling the virtues of the young dictator, with residents reported to be “enthusiastically” confirming their names on election rolls at constituency offices. “Agitation activities are going on to encourage citizens to take an active part in the election with high political enthusiasm and labour feats, amid the playing of the ’Song of the Election’,” the official KCNA news agency reported. Officials and “agitators” are visiting factories, construction sites, cooperative farms and neighbourhood organisations to “explain to the voters the significance of the election, the invincible might of the government of the DPRK and the advantages and vitality of its election system,” KCNA reported. An election poster reads: March 9 is the election of the 13th Supreme Peoples Assembly, Lets all vote in agreement! in Pyongyang (AP) Under North Korea’s definition of democracy, everyone is obliged to vote, the ballot paper only carries one name and anyone who does not wish to vote for that representative of the party is required to enter a special booth and cross out the name on the ballot. There is no way of knowing how many people exercise this right of defiance as any dissenters will inevitably end up in the North’s well-established network of political prison camps. A vote against the ruling party is an act of futility as much as an act of bravery. But if reports of incidents targeting polling stations are correct, then maybe there is a growing groundswell of opposition to the leadership of Mr Kim and, potentially, a nascent opposition movement. “I have heard very recently of some cracks in the system and of some dissent and unhappiness voiced, but these reports are extreme,” Daniel Pinkston, a North Korea analyst with The International Crisis Group in Seoul, told The Telegraph. “Even one single incident like this would cause quite a stir in North Korea,” he said. Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Tokyo’s Waseda University and an authority on North Korean affairs, said the incidents are indicative of the broader “tensions” in North Korea as the election approaches. “At least one-third of the members of the parliament will change in this election and, if Mr Kim tries to bring about a rapid replacement of the older members of the chamber then it may be as many as half who lose their positions,” he said. Particularly at risk are close allies of Jang Song-thaek, the uncle and mentor to Mr Kim, who was publicly purged late last year and summarily executed for a litany of crimes against the state, including “gnawing at the unity and cohesion of the party” and having “improper relations with several women.” “Mr Kim is trying to expel the remains of the Jang faction,” Prof Shigemura said. “And many people in North Korea are very afraid of who is going to be kicked out. There is a high possibility that some of those who lost their positions will have to flee North Korea, but the government has put the military on alert for those people.” Anyone attempting to defect is likely to meet an end similar to that of Mr Jang.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 05:43:53 +0000
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