SEOUL, March 17 (Reuters) – North Korea’s newly elected Supreme People’s Assembly will convene its first session on March 22 to deliberate on a constitutional revision and on the implementation of a five-year national policy plan, state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday.
The assembly legislates and manages policies in all areas of government, but its approval is only a formality for measures decided by the ruling Workers’ Party, which holds ultimate power.
South Korean policy makers and analysts have been watching for a constitutional amendment by the North that could include specifying South Korea as a separate and hostile state that would be a blow to Seoul’s push for dialogue and reconciliation.
KCNA released the names of newly elected deputies to the assembly that included leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister, whom analysts believe speaks for her brother on diplomatic affairs.
The assembly will elect the president of the State Affairs Commission and other senior leadership and deliberate on a constitutional amendment, KCNA said.
The assembly will also review the implementation of a new five-year policy plan adopted by the Workers’ Party last month that included Kim’s vow to expand its nuclear weapons and develop stronger long-range missiles.
Kim himself was not on the list of 687 deputies who won seats in the election held on March 15.
He rules the country as the general secretary of the Workers’ Party, president of the State Affairs Commission, and commander in chief of the Korean People’s Army. He is widely expected to be reappointed president of the Commission.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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