V.

Government

Following World War II (1939-1945), the Korea Peninsula was divided into two military occupation zones. The northern zone was occupied by military forces from the Soviet Union, and the southern zone was occupied by United States military forces. In 1946 the Soviet Union recognized a government led by Kim Il Sung, the leader of the Korean Communist Party, in the northern zone. The Korean Communist Party merged that year with another group to form the Korean Workers’ Party. In 1948 the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) was formally established as a centralized Communist state under the control of the Workers’ Party, which espoused a Marxist-Leninist ideology. Following the departure of Soviet advisers and forces in 1958, however, North Korea began to lessen the importance of Marxism-Leninism compared to a nationalistic ideology known as juche (self-reliance). Juche was linked to “Kim Il Sungism,” which extolled Kim Il Sung as the personification of national pride. This ideology continued even after Kim Il Sung died in 1994 and was replaced by his son, Kim Jong Il.

North Korea’s first constitution was approved in 1948. It was revised in 1972, 1992, and 1998. Before Kim Il Sung’s death in 1994, executive power in North Korea was vested in a president, who was head of state, and a premier, who was technically head of government. The president was elected by the Supreme People’s Assembly, the unicameral legislature, for a four-year term. The president in turn appointed the premier and members of the Central People’s Committee, the government’s highest policymaking body. The post of president was vacant following the death of Kim Il Sung and was later abolished by the 1998 constitution. Kim designated his son, Kim Jong Il, as his successor; however, Kim Jong Il did not assume the presidency. Under a 1998 constitutional amendment, the chair of the National Defense Commission, a post held by Kim Jong Il, was recognized as North Korea’s “highest office.”

The 1998 constitution created the National Defense Commission and gave the armed forces increased governmental power. The commission was described as “the supreme military guidance organ of state sovereignty.” Kim Jong Il became chairman of the commission as well as general secretary of the Workers’ Party. The office of president was abolished.

Nominally, the Supreme People’s Assembly was to hold ultimate authority in the land under the 1998 constitution. But the chairman of its presidium, or executive committee, became a de facto ceremonial head of state, whose major function has been to represent North Korea in dealings with other national leaders. In June 1999 two official organs of the Workers’ Party Central Committee, in a joint article, indicated how powerful the North Korean army had become. The article equated the North Korean army with the people of North Korea. It declared that “giving priority to the Army is the perfect mode of politics in the present times … a mode of leadership which solves all problems arising in the Revolution. Our revolutionary philosophy is that the Army is precisely the Party, people, and state.”

A.

Executive

The highest executive office in North Korea is chair of the National Defense Commission. The 1998 constitution created the National Defense Commission and abolished the office of president. The state apparatus is subordinate to the paramount authority of the National Defense Commission.

B.

Legislature

The legislature, which in theory is the supreme government organ, is the unicameral Supreme People’s Assembly. Its 687 members are elected by direct vote for four-year terms. The legislature generally meets only several times a year; its day-to-day duties are performed by the standing committee of the assembly.

C.

Judiciary

The judicial system of North Korea consists of the central court and the provincial and people’s courts. The central court is the state’s highest judicial authority; its judges are appointed to four-year terms by the standing committee.

D.

Local Government

North Korea is divided into nine provinces, three special cities, and one special district. Provinces are further subdivided into 210 counties and districts. Each local administrative unit has an elected people’s assembly.

E.

Political Parties

The dominant political party is the Korean Workers’ Party. Two smaller parties join with the Korean Workers’ Party in the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland.

F.

Social Services

All North Korean citizens are entitled to disability benefits and retirement allowances. Medical care is free and available at people’s clinics throughout the country.

G.

Defense

In 2004 the U.S. government estimated that the total personnel of the North Korean regular armed forces was about 1,106,000, distributed as follows: army, 950,000; navy, 46,000; and air force, 110,000. This total excludes reserve forces.

Estimates of weaponry were: tanks, 3,800; field artillery, 12,000; surface ships, 430; submarines, 90; and jet fighter aircraft, 760. The North Korean forces are equipped primarily with weapons, such as T-62 tanks, received from the former Soviet Union and China during the Cold War.

In 2004 North Korea’s 760 fighter jets included only 60 advanced Soviet models (MiG-23s, MiG-29s, and SU-25s). Most of its mainstay fighters are MiG-19s, MiG-21s, Il-28s, and SU-7s. Some 320 are outmoded MiG-15s and MiG-17s. By contrast, South Korea had 520 advanced fighters in 2004, including 162 U.S.-supplied advanced fighters. The United States, which has a military alliance with South Korea, based more than 100 military airplanes in South Korea in 2004, including 70 F-16s, most armed with smart bombs.

In addition to its conventional forces, North Korea announced in February 2005 that it had become a “nuclear weapons state” in order to defend itself against what it perceived as the threat of a U.S. preemptive attack. In July 2006 North Korea launched seven test missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 believed to have the range to reach North America. The UN Security Council imposed sanctions on North Korea, banning other nations from supplying it with materials necessary for building missiles. In early October 2006 North Korea tested a nuclear weapon in an underground explosion.