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| North Koreans wait for their turn to vote during the election at a polling station in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sunday. AP-Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
North Korea held a nationwide "parliamentary election," Sunday after the failure of the Hanoi summit ironically raised hopes that its leader Kim Jong-un may announce new plans relating to the implementation of updated economic strategies.
New members for the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) are expected to be announced Monday or Tuesday, according to observers, Sunday. A total of 687 deputies are elected, one from each constituency.
Although the SPA does not possess any actual power, its role being strictly "rubber stamp" in nature, it still indicates a pathway of reform for Kim's new cabinet, North Korean watchers say.
North Korean state-media reported Sunday that the election came at a critical time when the country is facing a new task to carry out new economic strategies declared by Kim last April during the Third Plenary Meeting of the Seventh Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
"It would be natural for the top North Korean leadership to replace SPA members with younger ones," said Oh Gyeong-seob, a research fellow in the North Korean Studies Division of the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU). "The SPA election is a political event for the North Korean regime to secure people's loyalty to it and its leader, Kim Jong-un."
"They encourage 100 percent participation of the people to strongly claim that the North Korean regime is getting the full support from its people," he said.
This is the second parliamentary election since Kim took power in 2012.
According to the country's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), 99.97 percent of all eligible voters went to the polls in 2014, except those out of the country or working at sea.
Candidates include major figures of the ruling WPK, top military officials, farmers and workers from major enterprises.
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| A woman receives a ballot paper from an electoral worker before voting at a polling station in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sunday. AP-Yonhap |
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| An electoral worker shows a ballot paper at a polling station in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sunday. AP-Yonhap |
Following the election, the SPA will hold its first meeting.
Another North Korea watcher Lee Su-seok, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Strategy, said it will be noteworthy to watch this first meeting to see how the new leadership will set economic policies in accordance with the strategy set last April.
"Since Kim Jong-un took power, he has emphasized the laws and procedures … putting greater emphasis on the SPA as well," Lee said. "The first meeting in April will give a look into his new economic strategies in this sense."
Declaring the victory of the Byungjin policy ― that simultaneously pushes forward economic and nuclear development ―, Kim said he will focus on the economy as a new strategic priority.
"This election for members of the Supreme People's Assembly is being held while the country is facing a transformational phase in conducting socialist tasks," the state-run Minju Choson said.
"This year, we are in the process of struggle to open up a firm prospect for the further development of socialism, by expanding and strengthening the country's independent development capacity."
