North Korea is set to hold the first session of its new Supreme People's Assembly on Sunday, amid attention on whether it will codify its hostile policy toward South Korea in the constitution. The session follows the selection of new deputies after the Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea last month.
North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced that the session in Pyongyang will deliberate on the election of the president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, elections of state leadership and sub-committees of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), and the revision and supplement of the Socialist Constitution. Leader Kim Jong-un has defined the two Koreas as 'two countries hostile to each other,' drawing close watch from South Korean officials and analysts on whether this policy will be enshrined in the constitution. Observers are also interested in whether Kim will deliver a speech on relations with South Korea, the United States, and other countries. The agenda includes the five-year national economic development plan adopted at the recent Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea and the 2026 state budget. Kim is expected to be reelected as chief of the State Affairs Commission, while party secretary Jo Yong-won is widely anticipated to become chairman of the SPA standing committee, replacing Choe Ryong-hae. North Korea typically convenes an SPA session after a party congress to enact laws implementing congress decisions, though the parliament is seen as a rubber-stamp body for ruling party choices.
