Kim Jong Un Re-Elected as President of the State Affairs Commission at Supreme People's Assembly; Close Aide Jo Yong-won Consolidates Power

According to Financial News, the DPRK convened the First Session of the 15th Supreme People's Assembly and re-elected Kim Jong Un as President of the State Affairs Commission. The Supreme People's Assembly serves as the DPRK's parliament. However, it effectively functions as a rubber-stamp body that merely approves decisions already made at party congresses.
Rodong Sinmun reported on the 23rd that the first day of the First Session of the 15th Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK took place in Pyongyang on the 22nd. The election of the President of the State Affairs Commission was taken up as the first agenda item, and Kim Jong Un was unanimously re-elected. He had already been re-endorsed as leader at the 9th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea held in February.
Kim Jong Un was first elected President of the State Affairs Commission at the 4th Session of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly in June 2016, and he was re-elected at the 1st Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly in 2019. Under the DPRK constitution, the term of the President of the State Affairs Commission is the same as that of the Supreme People's Assembly, which is why he was re-elected again at this session.
Jo Yong-won was elected chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, while Kim Hyong-sik and Ri Son-gwon were chosen as vice chairmen. Jo Yong-won also became chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, and Kim Hyong-sik and Ri Son-gwon were elected vice chairmen of the Supreme People's Assembly. Jo Yong-won has been a key power figure leading the Organization and Guidance Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea, and his appointment as head of the legislature further strengthens the party-centered governing structure. He has been with Kim Jong Un since the early phase of his leadership and is believed to have been involved in the purge of Jang Song-thaek. Jo has played a central role in designing and implementing measures to reinforce Kim Jong Un's hereditary rule.
Pak Thae-song was re-elected as Premier of North Korea, the head of the executive branch. At the same time, the composition of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (State Affairs Commission) was reorganized, and new appointments were made for the Prosecutor General and the President of the Supreme Court of North Korea. The session also elected members of several sectoral committees, including the Legislation Committee, Budget Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly.
Major agenda items at this session included amendments and supplements to the Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, implementation of the Five-Year Plan for National Economic Development, settlement of the 2025 state budget and formulation of the 2026 budget. Attention is focused on whether the "Two Hostile States Theory" between the North and the South will be codified through constitutional revision. At the 9th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, Kim Jong Un declared, "We will permanently exclude the Republic of Korea from the category of fellow countrymen."

rainman@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-soo Reporter