North Korea Government

North Korea is a one-party communist nation with the Worker’s Party of Korea dominating all aspects of the country’s politics. The party has approximately 3,000,000 members. The title of the nation’s leader is the Suryeong or Supreme Leader. Under the country’s current constitution which was amended in 2016, the Supreme Leader is the head of state and chairman of the State Affairs Commission. The commission oversees matters concerning the sovereignty of the country, including defense.

The legislature is unicameral. The house of parliament, known as the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), comprises 687 elected members. Citizens elect these members to serve five-year terms. These members are known as deputies, and they elect the chairman and members of the Presidium to head the legislature. The Premier heads the executive wing which constitutes the Cabinet. All ministries in the country apart from the defense ministry fall under his jurisdiction.

North Korea holds elections every five years to elect members of the Supreme People’s Assembly. The members are elected by secret ballot. Every North Korean citizen who is 17 years of age and above is eligible to vote or run for an elective post to the SPA. Only one candidate nominated by a party appears on the ballot, and a voter can vote in their approval or dissent. The people also elect representatives to local assemblies every four years.

Members of the legislature meet in the Mansudae Assembly Hall. The facility is located in Pyongyang, the country’s capital. The building, which was completed in October 1984, has more than 200 rooms. The main meeting hall has a seating capacity of 2000 members. The president or Supreme Leader lives in a luxurious presidential palace called the Ryongsong Residence. It sits on 4.6 square miles of land in Ryongsong District, which is in the capital. The residence was completed in 1983.

The Workers' Party of Korea is the sole political party with power over the country.