The Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, formed on 22 July 1946, is a North Korean united front led by the Workers' Party of Korea. It was initially called the North Korean Fatherland United Democratic Front. It is also known as the Fatherland Front.
The three political parties of North Korea, the Workers' Party of Korea, the Korean Social Democratic Party, and the Chondoist Chongu Party, all participate in the front, though almost all power rests with the Workers' Party. Other member organizations include social groups and youth groups, such as the Korean Children's Union, the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League, Young Pioneer Corps, the Korean Democratic Women's League and the Korean Red cross.
All candidates for elective office must be members of the front, and are elected by it; mass meetings are held to decide which candidates will be nominated and their names can go on the ballot paper only with the approval of the meeting.
There is an ostensible counterpart for the front in South Korea, called the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front and in fact operating in North Korea.
Famous quotes containing the words democratic, front and/or fatherland:
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“Culture is a sham if it is only a sort of Gothic front put on an iron building—like Tower Bridge—or a classical front put on a steel frame—like the Daily Telegraph building in Fleet Street. Culture, if it is to be a real thing and a holy thing, must be the product of what we actually do for a living—not something added, like sugar on a pill.”
—Eric Gill (1882–1940)
“A state always calls itself fatherland when it is ready for murder.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)