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Re:South Korea provokes teenage smartphone privacy row by TazeTSchnitzel on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @08:50AM (#9725342)
> (this also raises the question why dictators in the north were not able to do the same)

Different strategies. Also, the DPRK made a number of big mistakes which doomed its economy, and much of its economic output is immediately spent on bribes.

> This shows how thin is the layer of democracy in the society.

It's not the only "democratic" East Asian country. I'm skeptical of Japan and Singapore where the same party always wins.

Re:South Korea provokes teenage smartphone privacy row by patio11 on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @11:45AM (#9726604)
I'm skeptical of Japan and Singapore where the same party always wins.

Singapore is a de-facto one party state where it is notable when an opposition party wins any seats whatsoever in the legislature. Three of Japan's last four prime ministers were from the Democratic Party of Japan, which is not the Liberal Democratic Party, which is the "same party" you're thinking of. The Japanese government, for all its numerous faults, runs hotly contested elections on a more-than-regular basis which can, and do, result in "voting the bums out."

Whether they have "democratic efficacy" is a bit more of an open question -- some observers of Japanese politics might opine that it is a rare, rare Japanese government where the legislature or prime minister exercise proximate control of the levers of sociopolitical power.