N. Korea sets up watchdog for overdue parliamentary election

(ATTN: RECASTS lead, ADDS Seoul official's quote in para 4)
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea began preparing for its long-overdue
parliamentary elections next month by forming an election watchdog, Pyongyang's
official news agency said Monday.

North Korea bypassed the vote, which was expected to be held by September, amid
rumors that leader Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke in August. An announcement last
week that elections will be held on March 8 was widely viewed as a sign that he
has recovered enough to appear in public.
The Supreme People's Assembly set up an election committee and named Yang
Hyong-sop, vice president of the Supreme People's Assembly Presidium, as the
committee chair, the Korean Central News Agency said in a two-sentence statement.
North Korea typically establishes an election watchdog in the run-up to the vote
"as part of its election promotion propaganda," an official at Seoul's
Unification Ministry said on customary condition of anonymity. "But its chief
posts are filled by the assembly members and therefore the system does not
function in a democratic way."
Current lawmakers' five-year term expired in August.
A new assembly usually also brings a reshuffle of the Cabinet and military, Seoul
officials say. New lawmakers reappoint Kim Jong-il as chairman of the National
Defense Commission that oversees the North's 1.1-million-strong military, as the
chairman's term is set to coincide with that of the assembly.
The vote comes amid Pyongyang's stepped-up drive to resuscitate its frail
economy. North Korea has been shaking up several industry-related posts in its
37-member Cabinet since late last year, according to Seoul officials.
In a New Year editorial printed in the nation's major newspapers, North Korea
vowed to "solve food problems by our own efforts" and focus on rebuilding its
industrial infrastructure.
A state-run think tank in Seoul, the Institute for National Security Strategy,
said in its latest report last month that North Korea will promote young economic
elite in the upcoming election.
Citizens vote in the direct election, but the list of candidates are drawn up by
the Workers' Party which nominates one candidate in each electorate. The current
687 representatives were elected in 2003, all with 100 percent approval.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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