North Korea’s legislature has re-elected Kim Jong-un as chairman of the State Affairs Commission, the highest position in power, the official KCNA news agency announced on Monday.
“The Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Editor’s note) re-elected Comrade Kim Jong-un Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea during the first session, the first state activity of its 15th legislature, on March 22,” KCNA said.
The report specifies that the decision to elect Kim Jong-un to the “supreme position” of the North Korean state reflects “the unanimous will and desire of all the Korean people.” According to the KCNA text, the chamber in Pyongyang on Sunday was “permeated with the extraordinary political consciousness and revolutionary enthusiasm” of the newly elected members.
The 687 deputies (108 of whom are women) of the new legislative assembly were elected on March 15, with a participation rate of 99.9%.
A small circle of faithful
North Korea was founded by Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, in 1948. Heir to the communist dynasty, Kim Jong-un has governed it since the death of his father Kim Jong-il at the end of 2011.
Institutionally, the “eternal president” of North Korea is still Kim Il-sung, who died in 1994. In practice, power is held by Kim Jong-un who is both President of State Affairs and general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the single party.
To govern, Kim Jong-un relies on a small circle of followers, including his sister Kim Yo-jong, recently promoted to the position of department director within the Party Central Committee.
A scrutinized session
The Assembly also reappointed Choe Son-hui as Minister of Foreign Affairs, which she has held since 2022, and Pak Thae-song as Prime Minister.
Analysts believe that the current session of the Assembly could be led to examine constitutional amendments, which could notably formally register inter-Korean relations as those between “two hostile states”.
