2014 North Korean parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 9 March 2014 to elect the members of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly.

Background

These were the first elections since Kim Jong-un became leader of the country as the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea, following the death of his father Kim Jong-il and the execution of Jang Song-thaek.

Outside observers claimed the elections were an effective way to poll the population on their opinion on the government. In addition, it functioned as a way for the government to determine whether any of its citizens had illegally changed their voting district within the country, or if people had left the country. The North Korean Government did so by enforcing borders and surveillance, in order to make sure that the voter turnout is reflective of the population. If there were missing people, then the local workers and residents would be found responsible, so local workers tried to ensure order in their region.

On 4 February KCNA reported that a meeting of electorates in Paektusan Constituency 111 nominated WPK first secretary Kim Jong-un as deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly. According to a report in the Rodong Sinmun, the meeting to select him took place in the presence of senior military heavyweights, such as KPA General Political Department Director Choe Ryong-hae, Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army Ri Yong-gil, and Minister of the People's Armed Forces Jang Jong-nam.

Voting practices and procedures

The purpose of elections in North Korea that year was to determine the location of voters and, in theory, their political allegiance, as well as to fill parliament seats with new members who are loyal to Kim Jong-un. Members of the Supreme People's Assembly were elected in single-member constituencies, with one approved candidate put forward in each constituency. Large groups of voters were presented with a ballot while moving through a voting booth, on which there was a single box to tick a candidate's name. Voters had to stop to cross out the candidate, making the process a monitored event. Voting is also compulsory in North Korea. Some North Koreans in China who defected to South Korea after the famine in their home country in the mid-1990s had said that they did so because they feared punishment back home for failing to show up for parliamentary elections.

Results

The main parties taking part were the Workers' Party of Korea, the Korean Social Democratic Party, the Chondoist Chongu Party as well as independent candidates. All candidates were also members of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland. While there are officially four parties in North Korean politics, each candidate must be approved by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, the dominant party in North Korean politics.

Elected members

The following were elected as members of parliament:

First session

In the first session of the 14th convocation, Ri Yong-mu and O Kuk-ryol retained their positions as vice-chairmen of the National Defense Commission, but Kim Yong-chun lost his vice-chairman position to Choe Ryong-hae. Minister of the People's Armed Forces Jang Jong-nam, as well as Jo Chun-ryong, were newly elected to the NDC, while Choe Pu-il, Kim Won-hong and Pak To-chun retained their membership. In the Cabinet of North Korea, the body which managed the administrative-economic apparatus, Premier of North Korea Pak Pong-ju was once again reelected to the position, which he held from 2003 to 2007, and again from 2013 to 2019. The positions in the cabinet remained primarily unchanged, and the premier, who managed the cabinet, had remained the same. Additionally, Kim Jong-un's younger sister, Kim Yo-jung, had been named in public for the first time, likely showing a rise in her own political power. She was identified as state comrade and senior official. She was shown with Kim Jong-un as he was making his way to vote at Kim Il-sung University. The most significant change in the cabinet was the replacement of Pak Ui-chun as Foreign Minister by Ri Su-yong.

Other appointments in the Cabinet:

• Mun Myong-hak replaced Ri Yong-yong as Minister of Coal Industry
• Kim Yong-gwang replaced Han Hyo-yon as Minister of Metallurgical Industry
• Ri Hak-chol replaced Kang Min-chol as Minister of Mining Industry
• Han Ryong-guk replaced Kim Kwang-yong as Minister of Forestry
• Kim Kyong-nam replaced Ri Song-ho as Minister of Commerce
• Pak Chun-nam replaced Hong Kwang-sun as Minister of Culture
• Kim Chon-gyun replaced Paek Ryong-chon as President of the Central Bank of North Korea
• Pak Myong-chol replaced Kim Pyong-ryul as President of the Supreme Court (not a cabinet position)

Notes

References