North Korea holds elections with '99.97 percent' turnout

SEOUL, July 20 (UPI) -- North Korea held elections on Sunday with a 99.97 percent turnout with voters "singing and dancing" at polling stations, according to Pyongyang's state-controlled media.

"All participants took part in the elections with extraordinary enthusiasm to cement the revolutionary power through the elections of deputies to the local people's assemblies," according to KCNA.

The voter turnout was identical to the 2011 elections, which also reportedly drew a 99.97 percent voter participation rate, according to Sky News.

North Korea authorities provided "mobile ballot boxes" for those unable to travel to polling stations, including the elderly and the sick. Those who do not participate in the elections are duly noted and investigated.

Earlier in July ahead of the elections, North Korea said voters should increase their "revolutionary vigilance" and warned against enemies.

The elections come at a time in North Korea when Pyongyang's Propaganda and Agitation Department is intensifying Kim Jong Un idolization.

Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader's younger sister, was prominent in video footage of the elections. Images of the younger Kim casting her vote at a ballot box were included in North Korea state media.

South Korean news source Daily NK reported the younger Kim, deputy director of the Workers' Party, was also handling top priorities of the state's propaganda.

A source on North Korea based in Japan said the North Korean leader rules by a politics of fear and has purged top brass because "[Kim thinks] there are no officers really worthy of his trust."

Kim also believes a blood relation like Kim Yo Jong is more capable of elevating his plans for stepping up leader idolization in the country, and has appointed her deputy director of the propaganda department.

The source said Kim has demoted the previous deputy director, Kim Ki-nam, a veteran of North Korea propaganda who served as chief editor of state newspaper Rodong Sinmun in1966.

South Korean outlet Newsis reported a new title of "adviser" was conferred upon the elderly bureaucrat, and that the 89-year-old Kim Ki-nam is serving 27-year-old Kim Yo Jong in a guardian role.