Politics of North Korea

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The politics of North Korea take place in the framework of a single-party dictatorship. North Korea's political system is built upon the principle of centralization. While the constitution asserts human rights and democratic government, most power is within the hands of a ruling elite dominated by Kim Jong-il. The government is highly controlling and severely limits freedom of expression (see Human rights in North Korea). The ruling party is the Korean Workers Party (KWP), which allows some slight inner-party democracy (see Democratic centralism). The KWP has ruled since North Korea's political beginnings in 1948. Two minor political parties, the Chondoist Chongu Party and the Social Democratic Party also have elected officials, though the parties are legally bound to accept the ruling role of the KWP. Kim Il-sung ruled North Korea from 1948 until his death in July 1994. Kim served both as General Secretary of the KWP and as President of North Korea. He was given the posthumous title of Eternal President, symbolizing that he forever holds the position of President, which is formally vacant. Most analysts believe the title a product of the cult of personality he cultivated during his life.

North Korea is widely considered a Communist state in the Western world, but the government has formally replaced references to Marxism-Leninism in its constitution with the locally developed concept of Juche, or self-reliance.

Contents

1 Executive power
2 Legislative branch
3 Political parties and elections
4 Legal system
5 Political developments
6 References
7 External links
8 See also

Executive power

Following the death of Kim Il-Sung in 1994 his son, Kim Jong-il, became the leader of the government, though he had played an active role for several decades.

Juche Tower, Pyongyang

The 1998 constitution states that the late Kim Il-sung is "Eternal President of the Republic," and the post of president was abolished after his death. The constitution gives many of the functions normally accorded to a head of state to the Supreme People's Assembly Presidium, whose president "represents the State" and receives credentials from foreign ambassadors. The government of the republic is led by the Prime Minister and, in theory, a super cabinet called the Central People's Committee (CPC), the government's top policymaking body. The CPC is headed by the President, who also nominates the other committee members. The CPC makes policy decisions and supervises the Cabinet, or State Administration Council (SAC). SAC is headed by a Premier and is the dominant administrative and executive agency. Nominally, the Premier is the head of government, but real power lies with Kim Jong-il, head of the KWP and the military. Kim holds several official titles, the most important being General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the National Defense Commission, and Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army. Within the country he is commonly known by the title of "Dear Leader", part of his personality cult. Similarly, his late father Kim Il-sung held the title of "Great Leader." In October 1997, Kim Jong-il was elected General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party in a single-candidate election. In September 1998, Kim Jong-il was elected Chairman of the National Defense Commission in another single-candidate election and the Supreme People's Assembly declared that position to be the "highest office of state". Under Songun politics, the North Korean government's term for its political system, the National Defense Commission manages the nation's military and international affairs. In theory, the Supreme People's Assembly is responsible for more civilian and domestic matters, though it is widely regarded as a rubberstamp assembly. Kim Jong-il's domestic policies have created a cult of personality around him, as well as continued that of his father. The Premier is Pak Pong-ju, though it is unclear what holding the postition actually means.

Kim Jong-il, the leader of the DPRK

Legislative branch

According to the constitution, the legislative Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) is the highest organ of state power. It consists of 687 members, who are elected every five years. The Assembly usually holds only two meetings annually, each lasting a few days. A standing committee, known as the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and elected by the Assembly, performs legislative functions when the Assembly is not in session. The Assembly officially chooses between, compromises upon, and ratifies the political positions on subjects put forward by the three represented parties. The president of the Supreme People's Assembly is Kim Yong Nam. Nearly all outside sources regard the SPA as a rubberstamp body.

According to the North Korean government:

"Representatives of the Supreme People's Assembly are elected by a free election. The Workers' Party selects an ardent party member with good background for each election district and nominates him or her as a single candidate. Other parties may have different methods. Then, voters select a candidate. Therefore, the Supreme People's Assembly, in its nature, is somewhat different from the legislature of a Western country."

In theory, North Korea's judiciary is accountable to the SPA and the president. The SPA's standing committee also appoints judges to the highest court for 4-year terms that are concurrent with those of the Assembly. In practice these decisions are made by the executive branch.

Political parties and elections

The following election results include names of political parties. See for additional information about parties the List of political parties in North Korea. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in North Korea.

Legal system

North Korea's current constitution (its fifth) was written in September 1998, replacing the one previously adopted in 1972. The former constitution had last been amended in 1992. Under the constitution, North Korea has an unusual legal system based upon German civil law and influenced by Japanese legal theory. Criminal penalties can be stiff, although one of the basic functions of the system is to uphold the power of the regime. Because so little information is available concerning what actually occurs inside of the country, the extent to which there is true rule of law is uncertain. In any case, North Korea is renowned for its poor human rights situation and regularly detains thousands of dissidents without trial or benefit of legal advice. The judicial system is theoretically held accountable to the Supreme People's Assembly. However, as in some countries (e.g. Switzerland), it does not conduct judicial review of the nation's legislation, and as in many countries (eg. UK) there seems to be little separation of powers within the government. To what extent the executive branch interferes with the operation of the judicial branch is unknown; experts outside North Korea and numerous defectors confirm this to be a widespread problem. According to a US Department of State report on human rights practices, the government of North Korea often punishes the family of a criminal along with the perpetrator.

Political developments

For most of its history, North Korean politics have been dominated by its foreign relations with South Korea. During the Cold War, North Korea aligned with the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. The North Korean government invested heavily in its military, hoping to develop the capability to reunify Korea by force if possible and also preparing to repel any attack by traditional enemies South Korea, Japan, or the United States. As relations with the PRC and the Soviet Union loosened towards the end of the Cold War, North Korea developed an ideology, Juche, based upon a high degree of economic independence and the mobilization of all the resources of the nation to defend against foreign powers seen as a threat to the country's sovereignty.

In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and Soviet-supplied economic aid, North Korea has faced a long period of economic crisis including severe agricultural and industrial shortages. North Korea's main political issue has been to find a way to sustain its economy without compromising the internal stability of its government or its ability to respond to perceived external threats. To date, North Korean efforts to improve relations with South Korea in order to increase trade and to receive development assistance have been mildly successful, but North Korea's determination to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles has prevented relations with Japan or the United States from improving. North Korea has also experimented with market economics in some sectors of its economy, but these have had limited impact. Some outside observers have suggested that Kim Jong-Il himself favors such reforms but that some parts of the party and the military resist any changes that might threaten stability.

Although there exist sporadic reports of opposition to the government, these appear to be relatively isolated, and there is no evidence of significant internal threats to the current government. Some foreign analysts have pointed to widespread starvation, increased emigration through China, and new sources of information about the outside world for ordinary North Koreans as factors pointing to an imminent collapse of the regime, but North Korea has remained stable in spite of more than a decade of such predictions.

References

External links

[The North Korean Human Rights Act: Documents and Background Materials]