N. Korea speeds up preparations for next week′s parliamentary elections

N. Korea speeds up preparations for next week's parliamentary elections: General / 김수연 / 2026-03-11 14:48:15

N Korea-parliamentary elections

▲ This image, captured from footage of North Korea's state-run TV station on March 10, 2026, shows North Koreans preparing to elect deputies for the Korean People's Assembly set for March 15. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

N Korea-parliamentary elections

N. Korea speeds up preparations for next week's parliamentary elections

SEOUL, March 11 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has been speeding up its preparations for next week's parliamentary elections by setting up election committees at various levels and reviewing qualifications of candidates for deputies to the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), according to state media Wednesday.

North Korea will elect deputies to the 15th SPA on Sunday as a follow-up step to last month's key party congress. North Korea typically holds parliamentary elections every five years, but the upcoming vote will mark the first since 2019.

North Korea said it has set up election committees at the provincial, city, county and military levels nationwide to prepare for the upcoming elections, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The North also appears to be holding what resembles a primary to pick a single candidate in each constituency as it reported meetings are being held to review qualifications of deputy candidates nationwide.

"Officials who have earned high public trust, workers, farmers and people from all walks of life, as well as soldiers, have been registering as candidates for assembly deputies," the KCNA said.

North Korea said all residents with the suffrage right in each constituency have been registered in a voters' list.

While voters are required to place the ballot in the ballot box if they approve of a candidate, they must draw a line through the candidate's name if they oppose, a process that effectively makes the voting non-secret.

The SPA is the highest organ of state power under the North's constitution, but it actually only rubber-stamps decisions by the ruling Workers' Party.

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