I bet the North looks silly after learning about this

Cho Myung-chul remembers what it was like to vote in North Korea: they have a little piece of paper and a pencil right next to it. If you don't like the candidate you can pick up a pencil and cross their name off, but the person who picks up the pencil will die. There is always someone watching outside, and of course, there is only one candidate. That, everyone, is as close to the "democratic" part of its official name as it gets over there. The idea of a free election seemed impossible to Cho Myung-chul before he defected. But he is now hoping to become the first North Korean in the South Korean parliament. He stands a fair chance of being elected, number four of 46 proportional representative candidates for the ruling Saenuri party. He asks CNN, "Can you imagine the shock of all my former colleagues and school friends in North Korea if I get a place in the National Assembly?" I can't imagine said shock. The Korean peninsula was split in 1953 when an armistice was signed after a bloody war. The two sides have never signed a peace agreement. South Korea has since grown to become Asia's fourth largest economy whereas North Korea struggles to feed its own people, asking (better put, mooching off) the international community for food and monetary aid. But I hope they sort it all out.