People often think that North Korea is a communist country. It is actually a socialist-military dictatorship. In its most recent constitutional change, the word 'communism' was removed. Large pictures of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin were removed from Kim Il-Sung square in 2012. The government has a similar structure to the former Soviet Union (USSR), once a close ally, but it is very different from the USSR. Leaders of the USSR were elected by a group of government officials. In North Korea, the new leader is the current leader's male heir. For this reason, North Korea is often referred to as a hereditary dictatorship.