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Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Monthly Event Reports

January 2023 | New language law escalates crackdown on speech

North Korea enacted a new law in late January aimed at "preserving" the country's "socialist national culture" by rejecting words that are not part of Pyongyang's everyday language, and in particular South Korean slang. There are no specifications as to how the law will be enforced, or what punishments are attached. In 2020, a similar law was enacted authorising the death penalty for those distributing K-dramas (which have reportedly gained traction over the past years), among other things. Analysts allege the new language law could trigger an ever-tougher crackdown on the importation of South Korean culture from what currently exists.

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GSoD Indices Data 2013-2022

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Basic Information

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Population Tooltip
25 887 040
System of government
Dictatorship, Single-Party State
Head of government
Premier Kim Tok-hun (since 2020)
Head of government party
Workers' Party of Korea
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
First Past the Post
Women in lower or single chamber
17.6%
Women in upper chamber
Not applicable
Last legislative election
2019
Head of state
President of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong-un
Selection process for head of state
Indirect election (assembly)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
09/05/2019
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
50.38%
Population Tooltip
25 887 040
System of government
Dictatorship, Single-Party State
Head of government
Premier Kim Tok-hun (since 2020)
Head of government party
Workers' Party of Korea
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
First Past the Post
Women in lower or single chamber
17.6%
Women in upper chamber
Not applicable
Last legislative election
2019
Head of state
President of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong-un
Selection process for head of state
Indirect election (assembly)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
09/05/2019
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
50.38%
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
No Action
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
No Action
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
No Action
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
No Action
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
State Party
in
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Performance by category over the last 6 months

Representation neutral Representation
Sep 2023
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2024
Representation neutral Rights
Sep 2023
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2024
Representation neutral Rule of law
Sep 2023
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2024
Representation neutral Participation
Sep 2023
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2024

Global State of Democracy Indices

Hover over the trend lines to see the exact data points across the years

Explore the indices
Representation
Representation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rights
Rights
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rule of Law
Rule of Law
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Participation
Participation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Annual value

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

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