Some of these questions are not very simple to answer in one go. It will be better if you partition this in a set of questions for several posts. However, I will target the ones that I currently have some documentation for.

• What commodities are provided by the government?

If by commodity you mean raw materials and basic goods, then the gov’t provides every commodity that is accessible within the country and it is done through state planning:

• I believe it would be advantageous for the State Planning Commission to handle comprehensive indicators such as gross industrial production and primary construction investment at the provincial level, along with other pertinent indicators as required. The Commission should specify the equipment and materials that can be guaranteed by the State, assist provinces and counties in planning the distribution and development of detailed indicators at the city, county, and enterprise levels, and enable provinces, counties, and enterprise to adapt them according to their spe- cific circumstances.

• Material supply should align with the planned production and distribu- tion. However, it is equally essential to establish and manage a ‘socialist commodity exchange market’ in addition to the planned framework. This would enable enterprises to address surplus or deficit situations of certain raw materials, materials, and accessories through mutually bene- ficial exchanges. To guarantee a stable supply, factories and enterprises could be mandated to allocate a specified percentage of their production to material exchange. In such instances, the types and scope of materials available for exchange must be appropriately stipulated, and a system for payment through banks should be implemented.

Found this in the book that I posted here -> https://lemmygrad.ml/post/8974385

• How are they payed for without taxes?

If by taxes you mean your regular tax over income that workers get in every paycheck, then the answer is that the national economy of the DRPK has enough economic strength due to the socialization of all of their industrial base and banks. The book mentioned above has more details on how their economy works.

• Is the DPRK considered AES? Why/Why not?

Yes. The DPRK has DOTP which is the most important feature to be considered AES. To understand their worker’s democracy, you can check these two sources:

1. Socialist Constitution of the DPRK http://www.korean-books.com.kp/KBMbooks/en/book/politics/00000450.pdf
2. The Parliamentary System of the DPRK https://web.archive.org/web/20170227022144/http://www.asgp.co/sites/default/files/documents//CJOZSZTEPVVOCWJVUPPZVWPAPUOFGF.pdf

• What made the DPRK so special that it managed to not incorporate any capital unlike China, Vietnam, Cuba…, which were forced to have regulated capital?

The book above has the answer. More information of the book:

This book seeks to understand how the economic construction of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) evolved, shaped by the formulation and execution of various economic management systems spanning the years 1949 to 2023, in response to numerous challenges faced by the country.

Split into four chapters, Park charts the developmental phases of the DPRK economy under Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and current leader Kim Jung Un. He carefully cross-examines sources from within the DPRK, including the Complete Works of Kim Il Sung, Selected Works of Kim Jong Il, the Rodong Shinmun, and the Chosun Central Yearbook. Where related literature relies on testimonies and interviews of defectors, this book offers a novel and comprehensive analysis of sources taken from North Korea, furnishing readers with new insights into the DPRK’s economic management and construction policies.

• Why did they remove Marxist references from their constitution?

To understand this, you need to first read about the Juche ideology: https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Juche#Marxism–Leninism

I want to add one more question to this and maybe someone who will answer yours can answer mine too:

I’ve always wondered: what is the work schedule in the DPRK like?

I don’t mean how many hours they work a day, that is already enshrined in Article 16 of the Socialist Labour Law of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as 8 hours a day.

I mean what time do they start and when do they finish? Is this the same across the entire country or do different enterprises have different working hours? Do they all go on lunch break at the same time? Do they have evening or night shifts? And is there overtime?

The reason i’m asking is because i’ve been thinking about how a socialist country where everyone is employed and everyone works would deal with such sharp spikes in traffic and congestion on public transportation if literally everyone goes to work and goes home at the same time…