Government of North Korea

Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Formation 1948
Founding document Constitution of North Korea
Jurisdiction Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Legislative branch
Legislature Supreme People's Assembly
Meeting place Mansudae Assembly Hall
Executive branch
Leader Chairman of the State Affairs Commission
Appointer Supreme People's Assembly
Headquarters Ryongsong Residence
Main organ State Affairs Commission
Cabinet
Judicial branch
Court Supreme Court
Seat Pyongyang
North Korea
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
North Korea
Government

In the North Korean government, the Cabinet is the administrative and executive body.[1] The North Korean government consists of three branches: administrative, legislative, and judicial. However, they are not independent of each other.[2]

Institutions

Although the country follows totalitarianism, the leader must work through various agents and their institutions, which has the power to delay, modify, or even resist the leader's orders.[3] These institutions may set the overall tone and direction for North Korea's foreign and domestic policy, make suggestions, offer policy options, and lobby Kim himself.[4]

The government is also confirmed by the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA). Premier, who appoints three Vice Premiers and the government's ministers. The government is dominated by the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and has been since North Korea's inception in 1948.

The Cabinet now has the right to supervise and control the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea (LPC) with regard to local economies and administration. As the State Administrative Council (SAC) was replaced by the Cabinet, the Local Administrative and Economic Committee (LAEC) was abolished and its functions regarding local politics transferred to the LPC. Under Kim Jong-il, the cabinet's power was elevated to equal status with Workers' Party of Korea (KWP) and Korean People's Army Ground Force. (KPA)[5]

A party chief secretary no longer concurrently holds the post of LPC chairman Hyun Seo-yeo, which has been taken over by a former LAEC chairman. Thus, the LPC is theoretically independent of the local party and is under the control of the Cabinet. The status of the LPC as the local executive organ, in principle, became higher than before.

The Economist Intelligence Unit listed North Korea in last place as a totalitarian regime in its 2012 Democracy Index assessing 168 countries.[6]

Judiciary

North Korea's judiciary is headed by the Supreme Court of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which consists of a Chief Justice and two People's Assessors; three judges may be present in some cases.[7] Their terms of office coincide with those of the members of the Supreme People's Assembly. Every court in North Korea has the same composition as the Central Court. The judicial system is theoretically held accountable to the SPA and the Presidium of the SPA when the legislature is not in session.

The judiciary does not practice judicial review. The security forces so often interfere with the actions of the judiciary that the conclusion of most cases is foregone; experts outside North Korea and numerous defectors confirm this to be a widespread problem.[8] Freedom House states that, "North Korea does not have an independent judiciary and does not acknowledge individual rights...reports of arbitrary detentions, 'disappearances,' and extrajudicial killings are common; torture is widespread and severe"[9]

North Korea's fifth and current constitution was approved and adopted in September 1998, replacing the one previously adopted in 1972. The former constitution had last been amended in 1992. Under the new constitution, North Korea is a socialist state representing the interests of all the Korean people.[10] Criminal penalties can be stiff; 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 any rule of law is uncertain. In any case, North Korea is known for its poor human rights situation and regularly detains thousands of dissidents without trial or benefit of legal advice. 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.[8]

Workers' Party of Korea

The Workers' Party of Korea is organized according to the Monolithic Ideological System and the Great Leader, a system and theory conceived by Kim Yong-ju and Kim Jong-il. The highest body of the WPK is formally the Congress, which last convened as the 7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in May 2016. Although the WPK is (in theory) organizationally similar to communist parties, in practice it is far less institutionalized and informal politics plays a larger role than usual. Institutions such as the Central Committee, the Secretariat, the Central Military Commission (CMC), the Politburo and the Presidium have much less power than that formally bestowed on them by the party's charter. Kim Jong-un is the current chairman of the WPK.

Relatively compared with other institutions of North Korea, the WPK remains to be the most ideological and views itself s the defender of the revolutionary way by emphasizing sovereignty and nationalism, as well as its commitment to a socialist ideology. Therefore in theory, the WPK opposes accommodation and economic reform of any type.[11]

State Affairs Commission

In June 2010, Kim appointed his uncle (by marriage), Chang Sung-taek, as vice-chairman of the NDC, in a move seen as propping his own position. Chang was already regarded as the second-most powerful person in North Korea and his appointment strengthened the probability that Kim's third son, Kim Jong-un, would succeed him.[12] However, in December 2013 Chang was fired from all government posts and subsequently executed. Kim Jong Un ordered for his uncle to be executed.[13]

In June 2016, following the 7th WPK Conference, the Constitution of North Korea was updated, replacing the National Defence Commission with the State Affairs Commission and placing Kim Jong-un as the Chairman of the State Affairs Commission.[14] This places Kim Jong-un as the official head of state. [15]

State leaders

State Affairs Commission of DPRK

  • Chairman: Kim Jong-un
  • Vice Chairmen:
  • Members of the Commission:
    • Kim Ki-nam, WPK Vice Chairman for Propaganda
    • General of the Army Ri Yong-gil, Minister of the People's Armed Forces
    • Ri Su-yong, WPK Vice Chairman for International Relations
    • Ri Man-gon, WPK Vice Chairman for Machine Building
    • Kim Yong-chol, WPK Vice Chairman for United Front Work
    • General of the Army Kim Won-hong, Minister of State Security
    • General of the Army Choe Pu-il, Minister of People's Security
    • Ri Yong-ho, Foreign Minister
    • Ri Ryong-nam, Foreign Trade

Presidium of the SPA of the DPRK

Supreme People's Assembly

  • Chairman: Choe Thae-bok
  • Vice-chairpersons: An Tong Chun and Ri Hye Jong (April 2014)

Cabinet

WPK Central Committee (September 2010-May 2016)

7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea:

  • Presidium of the Political Bureau: Kim Jong Un, Kim Yong Nam, Hwang Pyong So, Pak Pong Ju and Choe Ryong Hae
  • Members of the Political Bureau: Kim Jong Un, Kim Yong Nam, Hwang Pyong So, Pak Pong Ju, Choe Ryong Hae, Kim Ki Nam, Choe Thae Bok, Ri Su Yong, Kim Phyong Hae, O Su Yong, Kwak Pom Gi, Kim Yong Chol, Ri Man Gon, Yang Hyong Sop, Ro Tu Chol, Pak Yong Sik, Ri Myong Su, Kim Won Hong and Choe Pu Il and Ri Yong-ho (Ocstober 2017). Alternate Members of the Political Bureau: Kim Su Gil, Kim Nung O, Pak Thae Song, Ri Yong Ho, Im Chol Ung, Jo Yon Jun, Ri Pyong Chol, No Kwang Chol and Ri Yong Gil, and Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-sik, Ri Pyong-chol (October 2017)
  • Executive Policy Bureau of the Party Central Committee:
    • Chairman of the WPK: Kim Jong Un
    • Vice-Chairmen of the Party Central Committee: Choe Ryong Hae, Kim Ki Nam, Choe Thae Bok, Ri Su Yong, Kim Phyong Hae, O Su Yong, Kwak Pom Gi, Kim Yong Chol and Ri Man Gon
  • Central Military Commission:
    • Chairman: Kim Jong Un
    • Members: Hwang Pyong So, Pak Pong Ju, Pak Yong Sik, Ri Myong Su, Kim Yong Chol, Ri Man Gon, Kim Won Hong, Choe Pu Il, Kim Kyong Ok, Ri Yong Gil and So Hong Chan
  • Department Directors of the C.C., the WPK: Kim Ki Nam, Ri Su Yong, Kim Phyong Hae, O Su Yong, Kim Yong Chol, Ri Man Gon, Ri Il Hwan, An Jong Su, Ri Chol Man, Choe Sang Gon, Ri Yong Rae, Kim Jong Im, Kim Jung Hyop, Kim Man Song and Kim Yong Su
  • Chairman of the Control Commission of the Party Central Committee: Hong In Bom

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "North Korea names Kim Jong-un army commander". BBC News. 2011-12-31. Archived from the original on 2012-01-14.
  2. ↑ Teen Life in Asia By Judith J. Slater
  3. ↑ Miller, Gary J. "The Political Evolution of Principal-Agent Models". Annual Review of Political Science. 8: 203–225.
  4. ↑ Kang, David C. "They Think They're Normal: Enduring Questions and New Research on North Korea- A Review Essay". International Security. 36 (3): 148.
  5. ↑ Kang, David C. "They Think They're Normal: Enduring Questions and New Research on North Korea- A Review Essay". International Security. 36 (3): 147.
  6. ↑ "S.Korea Outranks U.S. in Democracy Index". Chosun Ilbo. 2013-03-22. Archived from the original on 2014-05-06. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-04-08. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  8. 1 2 "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices". U.S. Department of State. March 8, 2006. Archived from the original on March 21, 2006. Retrieved 2006-02-22.
  9. ↑ "Freedom in the World, 2006". Freedom House. Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
  10. ↑ Teen Life in Asia By Judith J. Slate
  11. ↑ Kang, David C. "They Think They're Normal: Enduring Questions and New Research on North Korea—A Review Essay". International Security. 36 (3): 148.
  12. ↑ Fading Kim sets the stage for power play Archived 2012-06-12 at the Wayback Machine., Donald Kirk, SCMP, 11 June 2010
  13. ↑ "North Korea executes Kim Jong Un's uncle". Associated Press. 12 December 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  14. ↑ "DPRK Constitution Text Released Following 2016 Amdendments". https://nkleadershipwatch.wordpress.com/2016/09/04/dprk-constitution-text-released-following-2016-amdendments/. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017. External link in |website= (help)
  15. ↑ "N.Korea updates constitution expanding Kim Jong Un's position". NK News. NK News. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
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