The Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) is to meet for the second time this calendar year on September
25th.
The daily publication of the Chosun Workers’ Party, Rodong Sinmun publicly announced the
decision to convene the legislative assembly this morning.
The first SPA “election” of the
Kim Jong Eun era took place on March 9th this year. With the 687-member legislature
filled, the first full session of the 13th SPA then took place on
April 9th.
It is the norm for the
SPA to convene each spring to carry out the core responsibilities of ratifying
personnel changes and hearing budgetary reports. Two of the more noteworthy
results of the meeting in April this year were then-Director of the KPA General
Political Department Choe Ryong Hae being made a deputy in the National Defense
Commission, and Ri Su Yong being handed the foreign affairs portfolio. Ri, a
seasoned diplomat, is scheduled to speak to the UN General Assembly later this
month.
Conversely, second sessions do not occur
every year as a matter of course; rather, they are convened when necessary for
the accomplishment of Workers’ Party
objectives. One such session convened on September 25th, 2012, for instance,
resulted in wide-ranging changes to the state education system, most notably
the addition of a 12th year of mandatory schooling.
As a result, attention
is set to focus on personnel shifts and the possibility of major policy
announcements.
