ID :
39215
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 14:53
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/39215
The shortlink copeid
(3rd LD) N. Korea to hold parliamentary election in March amid economic campaign
(ATTN: UPDATES lead, paras 4, 5 with analysts view of Kim's improving health,
details throughout)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will hold parliamentary elections in March,
Pyongyang's news agency said Wednesday, a sign of the regime returning to normal
with leader Kim Jong-il's improving health.
The Supreme People's Assembly made its decision on Tuesday to "hold the 12th
representatives' election on March 8 in 2009," the Korean Central News Agency
said in a brief statement.
North Korea missed the elections expected in August or September of 2008, when
the assembly members' five-year term expired. Seoul and Washington officials say
Kim suffered a stroke in mid-August.
Analysts view the notice as a sign that Kim has recovered enough to appear in
public. Recent North Korean media reports suggested a growing ease in his body
movement as he briskly toured industrial and military sites. In images released
on Monday, Kim was clapping with his two bare hands, compared to previous photos
in which he applauded with gloves on or had his left hand resting inside his
pocket or drooping at his side.
"With the election notice, North Korea is normalizing its political schedule,
based on a judgment that Chairman Kim's health has recovered to some degree,"
Yang Moo-jin, a professor of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul,
said.
A new assembly is usually followed by a Cabinet reshuffle. The new lawmakers
reappoint Kim Jong-il as chairman of the National Defense Commission that
oversees the North's 1.1-million-strong military. A military shakeup is also
likely.
Seoul's Unification Ministry confirmed the election, saying it will open up a new
era for the leader.
"We have to see how the new parliament will be made up," ministry spokesman Kim
Ho-nyoun said.
A South Korean state-run think tank expects North Korea will promote young
economic elite in the coming election. Economic pragmatism may emerge to lay the
groundwork for the post-Kim Jong-il era and replace the military-first policy, a
ruling philosophy promulgated by Kim, according to the report in late December by
the Institute for National Security Strategy, which is an arm of the National
Intelligence Agency.
Officials cautioned against reading too much into the election. Lee Sang-min, a
ministry official on North Korean politics, said a new parliament "doesn't
necessarily mean a policy shift. It is the Workers' Party and the military that
set the policy direction in the communist state."
North Korea will try to use the parliamentary elections as an opportunity to
boost national unity as this year has few major anniversaries, he said.
Citizens vote in the direct election according to the North's Constitution, but
the appointees are initially the government's picks. The current 687
representatives were elected in 2003.
North Korea has already replaced five industrial ministers among its 37 Cabinet
members. Pyongyang promoted industrial veterans to ministers of railways,
forestry, electricity, agriculture and metal industry in late 2008, according to
the ministry.
Analysts say the shakeup signals Pyongyang's stepped-up drive to rebuild the
country's frail economy.
In its New Year newspaper editorial, North Korea vowed to "solve food problems by
our own efforts" and rebuild its frail industrial infrastructure. Pyongyang also
reaffirmed its military-first policy and its pledge to denuclearize the Korean
Peninsula.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
details throughout)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will hold parliamentary elections in March,
Pyongyang's news agency said Wednesday, a sign of the regime returning to normal
with leader Kim Jong-il's improving health.
The Supreme People's Assembly made its decision on Tuesday to "hold the 12th
representatives' election on March 8 in 2009," the Korean Central News Agency
said in a brief statement.
North Korea missed the elections expected in August or September of 2008, when
the assembly members' five-year term expired. Seoul and Washington officials say
Kim suffered a stroke in mid-August.
Analysts view the notice as a sign that Kim has recovered enough to appear in
public. Recent North Korean media reports suggested a growing ease in his body
movement as he briskly toured industrial and military sites. In images released
on Monday, Kim was clapping with his two bare hands, compared to previous photos
in which he applauded with gloves on or had his left hand resting inside his
pocket or drooping at his side.
"With the election notice, North Korea is normalizing its political schedule,
based on a judgment that Chairman Kim's health has recovered to some degree,"
Yang Moo-jin, a professor of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul,
said.
A new assembly is usually followed by a Cabinet reshuffle. The new lawmakers
reappoint Kim Jong-il as chairman of the National Defense Commission that
oversees the North's 1.1-million-strong military. A military shakeup is also
likely.
Seoul's Unification Ministry confirmed the election, saying it will open up a new
era for the leader.
"We have to see how the new parliament will be made up," ministry spokesman Kim
Ho-nyoun said.
A South Korean state-run think tank expects North Korea will promote young
economic elite in the coming election. Economic pragmatism may emerge to lay the
groundwork for the post-Kim Jong-il era and replace the military-first policy, a
ruling philosophy promulgated by Kim, according to the report in late December by
the Institute for National Security Strategy, which is an arm of the National
Intelligence Agency.
Officials cautioned against reading too much into the election. Lee Sang-min, a
ministry official on North Korean politics, said a new parliament "doesn't
necessarily mean a policy shift. It is the Workers' Party and the military that
set the policy direction in the communist state."
North Korea will try to use the parliamentary elections as an opportunity to
boost national unity as this year has few major anniversaries, he said.
Citizens vote in the direct election according to the North's Constitution, but
the appointees are initially the government's picks. The current 687
representatives were elected in 2003.
North Korea has already replaced five industrial ministers among its 37 Cabinet
members. Pyongyang promoted industrial veterans to ministers of railways,
forestry, electricity, agriculture and metal industry in late 2008, according to
the ministry.
Analysts say the shakeup signals Pyongyang's stepped-up drive to rebuild the
country's frail economy.
In its New Year newspaper editorial, North Korea vowed to "solve food problems by
our own efforts" and rebuild its frail industrial infrastructure. Pyongyang also
reaffirmed its military-first policy and its pledge to denuclearize the Korean
Peninsula.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)