Abstract

Elections are fundamental to politics and the most common among all the ways in which regime change can be induced. If elections are said as a process of power reorganization in a liberal democratic state, in the case of North , it can be said as a process of power recharging.

It is clear that in the North Korean political system, it is difficult to find the elements of the election system based on the principles of liberal democracy worthy of the name. Nevertheless, the election system, whether it is a capitalist system or a socialist system, has emerged as a universal value, so also by all appearances has an election system as a framework for political participation. However, the principles of election and people's participation in politics in the current North Korean constitution are nothing more than perfunctory regulations, and the various characteristics that appear in the actual operation process are closely related to the governance structure in the political system of North Korea. Therefore, although the election system in North Korea has its form, it is nothing but a means of political mobilization, not political participation in the pure sense, given that it is used as a tool for establishing Kim Il-sung's one-party dictatorship and the establishment of power succession structure from Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il.

In general, elections are perceived as a process of commitment in which a large number of electoral colleges grant power to a specific person or group. Elections are accepted as a measure to test the democratic potential of a society.

To summarize the 13 functions of elections presented by Woyke concerning the establishment & development of democracy, they include providing the legitimacy for governance, forming opposition parties, controlling power, generating struggle relationships, and securing representation, etc.

However, the reason and purpose of conducting elections in North Korea, like other socialist countries, is a perfunctory system to prove the ideology of sovereignty vested in the people and the operation of the democratic sovereignty system internally and externally under the name of a democratic centralizing system.

In other words, elections are not conducted between competing parties and multiple candidates through fair procedures, but merely nothing but an institutional device to show off internally and externally that North Korea is also operating a democratic system by stipulating the election system perfunctorily. Also, it is a well-known fact that, among other socialist countries, North Korea's election system is particularly used as a tool for maintaining the regime and building its succession system.

In this respect, it would be safe to say that North Korea's election system is the weakest in its function compared to that of other countries. Nevertheless, the reason for looking at the function and operation of the election system in North Korea is that the knowledge in this area remains at a fragmentary level. Since it is undeniable that elections are a key factor in securing the legitimacy of the North Korean public as well as maintaining the North Korean regime, an approach to how the election system of North Korea is operated could be a very important task.

In particular, this study went through procedures of comparative analysis between the election system of North Korea and one of the existing socialist states including the Soviet Union and China to overcome the limitations that existing studies on the political system or the election system of North Korea conducted unilateral comparative analysis in light of the election system under the capitalist system. Then, to analyze the practical meaning of North Korea's election system, this study judged that, above all things, it would be important to analyze and criticize the (Self-Reliance) ideology and the leader's monolithic leadership system as the ruling ideology of North Korean society. This is because North Korea is using elections as a means of strengthening the regime ruled by Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.

After all, it is believed that understanding the operation situation of the election system, which comes from the characteristics of North Korea's governance structure, has an important meaning in evaluating whether North Korea's election system or democracy is realized.

Therefore, this study intended to understand the political implications of the election system through an analysis of the North Korean election system and its status and to suggest the realization of democracy in the North Korean society and a reform idea on the unification-oriented election system as an alternative based on this.

It is virtually impossible for one regime to reunite by overthrowing or absorbing another on the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, it can be said that the inter-Korean integrated election would require a very macroscopic perspective when trying to achieve a unified nation in a hope of the coexistence principle that neither the South nor the North will be infringed upon and the future by holding a general election someday after going through a certain transition period amid the increase in exchanges and cooperation. It is believed that the recognition of problems through accurate analysis of the North Korean election system and suggestions for the improvement here in this study can contribute to the achievement of the future goal of realizing unified Korea.