I always counter everybody should vote with make sure you are informed first. A republic is a terrible system of government, but we haven't found anything better.
Variations of this quote are often banded about to apologise for and defend the imperfections of given democracies. It shuts down questions of electoral reform with the straw-man of autocracy. Not all democracies are equal.
There are minor variations of republics and how they elect people with resulting variations. However they are all better than alternatives (including democracy).
I don't know about every single country on the list, but at least the one I am somewhat informed about (North Korea) is a republic only in name, as it is pretty much an authoritarian dictatorship state controlled by the military class.