Local election time in North Korea. Yes, really. But there's a problem:
Posters for candidates in recent local elections were allegedly damaged in Hyesan, Yangkang Province, leading to an official investigation.
Most strikingly, a number of sources have independently reported that the phrase ‘Supporting Lee Myung Bak’ was found on a poster in at least one case, and that as a result the security authorities have declared it a case of espionage. An investigation team has been established by the provincial Party, with city National Security Agency and People’s Safety Ministry agents at its core.
This is noteworthy because, according to defectors and inside sources, although there have been cases of torn election posters in the past, this is the first time that a prominent South Korean politician has been cited, much less the oft-criticized President Lee Myung Bak....
“The People’s Safety Ministry and National Security Agency have designated it an espionage case and have been conducting surveillance of citizens living around the factories and visitors from other provinces,” the source added.
Despite the uncompetitive nature of North Korean elections, the authorities have always put up posters introducing candidates in big industrial enterprises, local government offices and People’s Safety Ministry offices (police stations) two weeks prior to election day.
"Despite the uncompetitive nature of North Korean elections". A phrase to cherish.
In a similar case, back on the 8th a source reported that ‘X’ signs had been found on election posters on the wall of the guard’s office at an auto repair factory in Hyehwa-dong. Again, it is a place where few people pass by at night.
Immediately after that incident, there were apparently people’s unit meetings covering how it is critical to “Raise revolutionary awareness ever higher since the maneuvers of counter-revolutionary and anti-Party reactionaries have been emerging in order to disturb elections to the Local People's Assembly, a sovereign provincial entity.”
The source said, “When a graffiti case happened on the 8th, the authorities thought it was caused by an individual due to a grudge. However this time it mentions the South Chosun president’s name, so people think it is not a normal case. And they worry about it.’”
“Even before the election, they told us not to go trading and to prepare election-related events, and now they are causing a commotion to catch the culprit,” he went on. “As soon as a series of graffiti incidents happens, people think it is ‘a sign of collapse’ or that ‘the country has reached at the end.’”
Meanwhile, Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on the 26th that in the provincial delegate elections to the Local People's Assembly, 99.97% of voters took part, and 100 % of them voted for candidates.
You want to ask, well, yes, but which candidates. But then you realise - this is North Korea. You don't need to know which candidates. They've given you all the relevant information.
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