Does political lobbying exist in North Korea?

Question

Up until his death, Kim Jong Il maintained a strong national military-first political system that equated stability with military power. Kim Jong Un continues to carry on the militarized political style of his father, but with less commitment to complete military rule. Since he took power, Kim Jong Un has attempted to move political power away from the KPA and has divided it among the WPK and the cabinet. Because of his political lobbying, the WPK's Central Committee has vastly shifted power in April 2012: out of 17 members and 15 alternates of the Committee, only five members and six alternates derive from military and security sectors. Ever since, the economic power of the WPK, the cabinet, and the KPA has been in a tense balance. The KPA has lost a significant amount of economic influence because of the current regime, which continually shifts from what Kim Jong Il built his regime on, and may cause later internal issues.[31]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_North_Korea

Does political lobbying exist in North Korea? If so, in what form? Because there's no election, I feel there might not be any political lobbying in North Korea. However, this Wikipedia article says that Kim resorted to political lobbying, so now I am wondering if political lobbying exist and in what form, and if corporations can do political lobbying, or it's heavily restricted.

Answer 1

In a closed system like North Korea or China or Saudi Arabia (and to some extent Russia), political lobbying still happens between the power players. Yes, they all have one leader at the highest post who wield absolute power. But that one leader still has to share power with others to run the country. And only idiotic dictators believe they know everything, and don't listen to counsel from others.

So most actually have a political system where those who are trusted by the leader and who share the powers to run the state can talk among themselves (like a party or government council) to best utilise that political power. A good leader will not bluntly push their political ideas if there is some disagreement on it within the council. And they will rather choose to lobby the ideas to get a majority in the council to support their idea. Depending on the dictator's leadership style, other political players too may feel comfortable to lobby their political ideas provided it doesn't politically threaten the "dear, glorious leader".

(For example, even in the USSR, there were some Russian politicians who advocated for a friendlier relation with the west. And ultimately Gorbachev, who also believed in that idea came to power and successfully lobbied the idea to the others, despite the many objections he faced. Another good example is Saudi Arabia's King creating a separate women-only township for women to work - clearly a political compromise with the religious leaders he had to make because he also derives his legitimacy to be in power as the "custodian of the holy city of Mecca and Medina" and thus cannot have religious leaders publicly opposing his actions.)

Ofcourse, due to the nature of such political systems, where a dictator can lose their life if they lose their political power, such lobbying within the council is very cautiously done so that it is not mistaken as a challenge to the dictator's power. But others more close to, and trusted by, the "dear glorious leader", like his sister Kim Yo-jong, may feel more courageous in lobbying their political ideas without much fear. There are other power players in North Korea who may also have the ability to indulge in political lobbying, depending on their political positions and closeness to the "dear, glorious leader".

Answer 2

Of course it does

Lobbying exists in any larger organization, and authoritarian states are no exception. It's just that the basis for lobbying is slightly different because lobby groups can't threaten to or actively influence the public through PR campaigns to effect elections.

But all the other ways of lobbying: pre-writing (or "consulting on" legislative texts, "donations" (aka definitely not bribery) and implicit promises of some other post-term goodies (like well paid do-nothing jobs at supervisory boards of large companies) are all still possible in some way or another. Playing one official against another could also be an avenue for any lobbying group to exert undue influence (by withholding or providing better information from one official over another)

Answer 3

Without any specific insight into North Korean affairs: In a political system where all official proceedings are a charade, politics consist to a large extent of lobbying.

I mean this in the sense that for example, all votes in "parliament" etc. are pre-determined and arranged. Instead of discussing suggestions by members, and instead of performing a true vote, the agenda and the result have been fixed "behind the curtains" between the power brokers. Therefore, if, for example, a lawmaker wants anything done, they often cannot simply use official procedures.

Instead, they have to use some back channel to find the attention of somebody, ideally Kim or somebody Kim listens to, who takes a liking to their idea. This will be the case on all levels of government, and also not restricted to lawmakers but to everybody who must fear retribution if they officially put non-approved ideas on the table or deviate from the official doctrine, for example journalists or judges.

These attempts to find the attention of powerful people is a form of lobbying, hence lobbying is probably much more common there than in working democracies.

Before we start to feel too good amid all the lamenting of the terrible state of affairs in North Korea: The mechanism described here is not foreign to entrenched power structures of established parties in Western democracies. Of course, a certain amount of "pre-vetting" of new ideas and proposals serves to prevent chaos and frees resources otherwise concerned with fruitless discussions, and serves to keep up the image of a party in public (which would be damaged by outlandish demands). Nevertheless, backroom deals and top-down control of agendas are essentially pre-democratic and resemble the mechanics of courts in absolutist monarchies or noble houses or mafia family clans. If you have a novel idea you must find somebody uncle Enzo listens to, and convince them, one way or another. You must lobby.