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68-680: It consists of one deputy from each of North Korea's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year terms. The constitution identifies the SPA as the "highest organ of state power" and all state positions, including the President of the State Affairs and in theory the Premier of the Cabinet , trace their authority to it. The Assembly typically does not legislate directly but delegates that task to

136-735: A defensive alliance , and in August 1935, the 7th World Congress of the Comintern officially endorsed the Popular Front strategy. In the elections of May 1936 , the Popular Front won a majority of parliamentary seats (378 deputies against 220), and Blum formed a government. In Fascist Italy , the Comintern advised an alliance between the Italian Communist Party and the Italian Socialist Party , but

204-399: A " United Front " (the "Second Period") after it became clear proletarian revolution would not sweep aside capitalism in the rest of the world, whereby the minority of workers who supported communist revolution would join forces against the bourgeoisie with workers outside the communist parties. This was followed by the " Third Period " starting in mid-1928, which posited that capitalism

272-511: A book written in 1977, the eurocommunist leader Santiago Carrillo offered a positive assessment of the Popular Front. He argued that in Spain, despite the excesses attributable to the passions of civil war, the period of coalition government in Republican areas "contained in embryo the conception of an advance to socialism with democracy, with a multi-party system, parliament, and liberty for

340-482: A condition of their continued existence. For example, East Germany was ruled by a "National Front" of all parties and movements within Parliament ( Socialist Unity Party of Germany , Liberal Party , Farmers' Party , Youth Movement , Trade Union Federation etc.). At legislative elections, voters were presented with a single list of candidates from all parties. The People's Republic of China 's United Front

408-666: A joint Socialist-Communist ticket with Norman Thomas 's Socialist Party of America in the 1936 presidential election , but the Socialists rejected the overture. The communists also then offered support to Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal . The Popular Front saw the Communist Party taking a very patriotic and populist line, later called Browderism. The Popular Front has been summarized by historian Kermit McKenzie as: ...An imaginative, flexible program of strategy and tactics, in which Communists were permitted to exploit

476-618: A largely symbolic role, is currently Jong Yong-guk . The functions of the Standing Committee are to: In addition to its executive functions, the Standing Committee also receives credentials of diplomatic representatives from foreign countries with the consent of the President of the SAC. In 1998, a constitutional amendment abolished the posts of the President of North Korea , Central People's Committee , and Standing Committee of

544-493: A separate box for "no" votes. Voting against a Democratic Front candidate is considered treasonous; those who do face the loss of their jobs and housing, along with extra surveillance. Refusing to vote at all is also considered a treasonous act. The Assembly is convened once or twice a year in regular plenary sessions of several days each. At all other times, the Standing Committee acts for the Assembly. Extraordinary sessions of

612-684: A smaller Standing Committee . Government officials carry out the policies legislated by the SPA subject to oversight and correction by the Workers' Party of Korea . The Workers' Party of Korea , which the constitution recognizes as the state's leading party, dominates the Assembly in a monopoly coalition with the Social Democratic Party and the Chondoist Chongu Party called the Democratic Front for

680-546: A standing committee known as the Standing Committee , which exercises legislative functions when the Assembly is not in session which in practice is all but a few days of the year. It also elects the President of the State Affairs Commission , the country's head of state and highest state office, and the premier , the country's de jure head of government. In 2023, the Standing Committee of

748-744: Is chaired by O Su-yong . The other members are Hong So-hon , Pak Hyong-ryol , Ri Hi-yong , Kim Kwang-uk , Choe Yong-il , and Ri Kum-ok . The Legislation Committee is chaired by Choe Pu-il . The other members are Kim Myong-gil , Kang Yun-sok , Pak Jong-nam , Kim Yong-bae , Jong Kyong-il , and Ho Kwang-il . The Deputy Credentials Committee is chaired by Kim Phyong-hae . 39°01′43″N 125°44′59″E  /  39.02861°N 125.74972°E  / 39.02861; 125.74972 Elections in North Korea Elections in North Korea are held every four-to-five years for

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816-540: Is determined by the population of each jurisdiction. Regarding this, scholar Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul stated that "They have a dual system: there is a mayor/governor, technically elected (but actually appointed), and there is a city/province party secretary. It is the latter who has real power, but mayor/governor can be important in some cases as long as he knows his proper place and does not challenge

884-724: Is perhaps the best known example of a communist-run popular front in modern times. It is nominally a coalition of the Chinese Communist Party and eight minor parties. Though all parties had origins in independent parties prior to the Chinese Civil War , noncommunists eventually splintered out to join the Nationalists, and the parties remaining in Mainland China allied with either Communist Party sympathizers or, in some cases, actual members. In

952-593: The April 9 tragedy had radicalised society and so it was unable to play the compromise role of similar movements. In the other republics, such organisations existed but never posed a meaningful threat to the incumbent party and economic elites. The French Front populaire and the Spanish Frente Popular popular fronts of the 1930s are the most notable ones. These are non-socialist parties unless indicated otherwise. These were established after

1020-606: The Communist Party of Germany (KPD) was regarded as the world's most successful communist party in terms of membership and electoral results. As a result, the Communist International , or Comintern, expected national communist parties to base their political style on the German example. That approach, known as the "class against class" strategy, or the " Third Period ", expected that the economic crisis and

1088-527: The Constitution of North Korea , all citizens 20 and older, regardless of party affiliation, political views, or religion, are eligible to be elected to the legislature and vote in elections. All candidates are selected by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea in mass meetings held to decide which candidates will be nominated and their names can only go on the ballot paper with

1156-896: The Korean Children's Union , the Socialist Patriotic Youth League , the Korean Democratic Women's League , and the Red Cross Society of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea . Only one candidate who has been selected by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea appears on the ballot. A voter may cross off the candidate's name to vote against them, but must do so in a special booth without any secrecy. The voter must then drop their ballot into

1224-591: The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), the country's national legislature, and every four years for Local People's Assemblies. Each candidate is preselected by the North Korean government and there is no option to write in a different name, meaning that voters may either submit the ballot unaltered as a "yes" vote or request a pen to cross out the name on the ballot. Critics argue that North Korean elections are show elections which lack competition and allow

1292-647: The World Federation of Democratic Youth , International Union of Students , World Federation of Trade Unions , Women's International Democratic Federation , and the World Peace Council ). Communist front was a label frequently applied to political organizations opposed by anti-communists during the Cold War . The strategy of creating or taking over organizations that would then claim to be expressions of popular will, and not manipulation by

1360-545: The republics of the Soviet Union , between around 1988 and 1992 (when the USSR had dissolved , and the republics were all independent), the term "Popular Front" had quite a different meaning. It referred to movements led by members of the liberal-minded intelligentsia (usually themselves members of the local Communist Party), in some republics small and peripheral but in others broad-based and influential. Officially, their aim

1428-545: The Assembly can also meet when called by the Standing Committee or by one third of the Assembly deputies. The functions of the SPA are: Constitutional amendments require the approval of two-thirds of the deputies. While the Supreme People's Assembly is vested with great powers on paper, in practice the principles of democratic centralism leave it with little real power. Like most Communist legislatures, it does little more than ratify decisions already made by Kim and

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1496-512: The Chairman of the Standing Committee performs certain representative functions ordinarily accorded to a head of state. As the representative of the state in external matters and the head of the highest sovereign organ, the Chairman of the Standing Committee is often considered the de facto head of state of North Korea, though officially this role is reserved for the President of the State Affairs Commission . The chairman also convenes sessions of

1564-665: The Labour Party, which was seething with anger over communist efforts to take over union locals. In addition, the incompatibility of liberal and socialist approaches also caused many Liberals to be hostile. The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) had been quite hostile to the New Deal until 1935, but it suddenly reversed positions and tried to form a popular front with the New Dealers. It sought

1632-666: The Legislation and Budget Committees and leaves the choice of having more committees to the SPA. Before 1998, there was an additional committee called the Reunification-policy Deliberation Committee. The Foreign Affairs Committee, too, was discontinued in 1998, but as of 2019 is operating again. The Foreign Affairs Committee is chaired by Kim Hyong-jun . The other members are Ro Ryong-nam , Ri Son-gwon , Kim Jong-suk , Kim Tong-son , Choe Son-hui , and Kim Song-il . The Budget Committee

1700-619: The Nazis with his defence against charges of involvement in the Reichstag fire became the general secretary of the Comintern, and its officials became more receptive to the approach. Official acceptance of the new policy was first signalled in a Pravda article of May 1934, which commented favourably on socialist-communist collaboration. The reorientation was formalised at the Comintern's Seventh Congress in July 1935 and reached its apotheosis with

1768-410: The Popular Front had existed, such as in the (later-renamed) World Committee Against War and Imperialism , but they sought not to co-operate with other parties as equals but instead to draw potential sympathisers into the orbit of the communist movement, which caused them to be denounced by the leaders of other left-wing associations. It was thus not until 1934 when Georgi Dimitrov , who had humiliated

1836-776: The Reunification of Korea . Elections are held in five-year intervals, the most recent in 2019 . Under the 1972 Constitution, the number of seats in the Assembly was 655. This was increased to 687 following the 1986 election . In 1990, the composition of the SPA was 601 seats held by the Workers' Party of Korea, 51 seats held by the Korean Social Democratic Party , 22 seats held by the Chondoist Chongu Party and 13 seats held by independents . The last convention during Kim Il Sung 's government took place in April 1994, three months before his death . Then during

1904-638: The SPA. The chairman, like the rest of the Standing Committee, is elected by the SPA, which can also remove the chairman. Choe Ryong-hae assumed the office of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly in 2019 before the office was given the current name in 2021. In addition to the Standing Committee, the SPA has four parliamentary committees : the Foreign Affairs Committee, Budget Committee, Legislation Committee, and Deputy Credentials Committee. The constitution mandates

1972-646: The Soviet Union and the Communist party line reversed yet again) was not a fight against Nazi aggression, but "the Second Imperialist War". Many party members quit the party in disgust at the agreement between Hitler and Stalin, but many communists in France and other countries refused to enlist in their countries' forces until June 1941 since until then, Stalin was not at war with Hitler. Leon Trotsky and his far-left supporters roundly criticised

2040-477: The Soviet Union or communist movement, was first suggested by Vladimir Lenin . These would not be political coalitions seeking power in opposition to fascist movements, but groups designed to spread the Marxist–Leninist message in places where the Communist party was either illegal or distrusted by many of the people the party wanted to reach. It was used from the 1920s through the 1950s, and accelerated during

2108-590: The Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany in August 1939, dividing Central and Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence, and leading to the Soviet takeover of the Baltic Republics and Finland . Comintern parties then turned from a policy of anti-fascism to one of advocating peace with Germany, maintaining that World War II (until Germany invaded

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2176-468: The Standing Committee formed in 2021 currently serves as a continuation of the Presidium rather than a re-creation of the Standing Committee that had existed before 1998. Prior to the creation of the post of President of North Korea in 1972, the Chairman of the Standing Committee was the country's de jure head of state. Currently, the Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly is the SPA speaker, while

2244-559: The Supreme People's Assembly amended and supplemented North Korea's election law. Minju Choson , the newspaper of the cabinet and the SPA Standing Committee, stated that North Korea would implement a primary-like system in some constituencies, fielding two candidates to pick the nominee in the single-candidate main elections for People's Assemblies at every level. The candidates would be reviewed for qualifications such as loyalty and "revolutionary mindset". Previously,

2312-413: The Supreme People's Assembly and gave their powers to a new body titled the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly. Of these organs, the Presidium was seen as the successor of the Standing Committee. In 2021, the Presidium reverted its name back to Standing Committee, though the powers provided by the original constitutional amendment used to abolish the previous Standing Committee remain unaltered. Thus,

2380-537: The Workers' International (SFIO) signed a pact of united action with the French Communist Party . By October, the Communist Party had begun to suggest that the republican parties that had not sided with the nationalist government might also be included, and it accepted the offer the next July after the French government tilted even further to the right . In May 1935, France and the Soviet Union signed

2448-582: The Workers' Party of Korea secretary." The elections have been variously described as show elections or a political census . Seats are uncompetitive as all candidates are chosen by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea . Because of the near 100% turnout, elections double as unofficial censuses. The inminban neighborhood watch-style organization reportedly watches the elections to identify and investigate no-shows. South Korean news reporter, Dae Young-kim, claims that there are separate boxes for "no" votes. According to him, voting against

2516-517: The alleged coalitions gave the Party the ability to maintain that it did not have a monopoly on power in that country. Another use of the word "front" in connection with communist activity was " Communist front ". This phrase used "front" not in the sense of a political movement "linking divergent elements to achieve common objectives", but as a facade "used to mask" the identity/true character/activity of "the actual controlling agent", (examples being

2584-503: The approval of the meeting. The Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea is a popular front dominated by the Korean Workers' Party, in which almost all power rests. The other participants in the coalition include the two other de facto legal political parties, the Korean Social Democratic Party and the Chondoist Chongu Party , as well as various other member organizations including social groups and youth groups, such as

2652-674: The benefit of left-wing anticapitalist parties. In the weeks that followed Hitler's rise to power in February 1933, the German Communist Party and the Comintern clung rigidly to their view that the Nazi triumph would be brief and that it would be a case of "after Hitler – our turn"; however, as the brutality of the Nazi government became clear and there was no sign of its collapse, communists began to sense that there

2720-430: The candidate on the ballot paper. Only one candidate appears on each ballot. Elections are nominally conducted by secret ballot , although in practice the voting process affords no secrecy for dissent. Voting is mandatory and turnout is habitually near 100%. Members of the Supreme People's Assembly are elected to five-year terms, and meet for SPA sessions up to ten days per year. The Supreme People's Assembly elects

2788-598: The candidates were solely picked by the WPK, and this change would mark the first competitive elections in North Korea since 1948 . The local elections would also drop using the voting system where the voter would cross off the candidate's name to vote against them, switching to using two different colored ballot boxes for “yes” and “no” votes. Local elections have been held since 1999. The people elect representatives to city, county, and provincial people's assemblies in local elections every four years. The number of representatives

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2856-472: The collapse of a leftist government coalition of social-democrats and left-liberal republicans , followed by the far-right riots , which brought to power an autocratic right-wing government , changed the equation. To resist a slippery slope of encroachment towards authoritarianism , socialists were now more inclined to operate in the street and communists to co-operate with other antifascists in Parliament. In June 1934, Léon Blum 's socialist French Section of

2924-536: The defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition especially of leftist political parties against a common opponent". However, other alliances such as the Popular Front of India have used the term, and not all leftist or anti-fascist coalitions use the term "popular front". The term was first used in the mid-1930s in Europe by communists concerned over

2992-493: The fifth session of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly Kim Jong Un was elected as the country's supreme leader. Addressing the SPA session, Kim Yong-nam, chairman of the SPA Presidium, said Kim's accession to North Korea's top post reflected "the ardent desire and unanimous will of all the party members, servicepersons and other people". His status as leader was reaffirmed when he was elected unopposed on March 9, 2014. Kim

3060-599: The founding and ruling Workers' Party of Korea held 87.5% of the seats, with 7.4% for the Korean Social Democratic Party , 3.2% for the Chondoist Chongu Party , and 1.9% for independent deputies. In reply to a question put forth by Michael Marshall , Li Chun Sik of North Korea stated at a meeting of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) of the Inter-Parliamentary Union : While candidates could be nominated by anyone, it

3128-423: The government to claim a veneer of pseudo-democratic legitimacy. A person's vote is not secret, and those who cross off the name on a ballot are often subject to legal and professional consequences. According to official reports, turnout is near 100%. All seats are won by candidates approved in advance by the ruling party, with the vast majority of approved candidates coming from the ruling party itself. In 2010,

3196-530: The initiative from the more radical dissident organisations established earlier by moving their republics towards greater autonomy and then independence. They also became the main challengers to the communist parties' hegemony in Byelorussia , Moldavia , Ukraine , Armenia and Azerbaijan . A Popular Front was established in Georgia but remained marginal, compared to the dominant dissident-led groups, since

3264-804: The latter rejected the idea. There were attempts in Great Britain to found a popular front, against the National Government 's appeasement of Nazi Germany , between the Labour Party , the Liberal Party , the Independent Labour Party , the Communist Party and even rebellious elements of the Conservative Party under Winston Churchill , but they failed mainly because of opposition from within

3332-424: The mourning period the assembly did not meet, nor did elections take place. The next meeting convened in September 1998, four years after Kim's death. Kim Jong Il did not make a speech at the first session of the 10th SPA in 1998. Instead, members listened to a tape-recorded speech of the late Kim Il Sung, which was made at the first session of the 9th SPA, in 1991. The enhanced status of the Korean People's Army

3400-399: The official candidate, or refusing to vote at all, is considered an act of treason, and those who do face the loss of their jobs and housing, along with extra surveillance. The latest election was held on 10 March 2019. Popular front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for

3468-453: The opposition". Carrillo, however criticised the Communist International for not taking the Popular Front strategy far enough, especially since French communists were restricted to supporting Blum's government from without, rather than becoming full coalition partners. After World War II , most Central and Eastern European countries were ruled by coalitions between several different political parties that voluntarily chose to work together. By

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3536-486: The overthrow of capitalism through revolution remaining unchanged. Cultural historian Michael Denning has challenged the Communist Party-centric view of the US popular front, saying that the "fellow travelers" in the US actually composed the majority of the movement. In his view, Communist party membership was only one (optional) element of leftist US culture at the time. The period suddenly came to an end with another abrupt reversal of Soviet or communist policy, where

3604-435: The popular front period of the 1930s. Eventually there were large numbers of front organizations. The international communism , in the form of the Communist International (Comintern), the international communist organization created by the Russian Communist Party in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution , went through a number of ideological strategies to advance proletarian revolution. Its 1922 congress called for

3672-461: The proclamation of a new policy: "The People's Front Against Fascism and War". Communist parties were now instructed to form broad alliances with all antifascist parties with the aim of securing social advance at home as well as a military alliance with the Soviet Union to isolate the fascist dictatorships. The "popular fronts" thus formed proved to be successful politically in forming governments in France, Spain and China but not elsewhere. In France,

3740-439: The rapid growth of fascist movements in Italy and Germany, which they sought to combat by coalescing with non-communist political groupings they had previously attacked as enemies. Temporarily successful popular front governments were formed in France , Spain, and Chile in 1936. When communist parties came to power after World War II in the People's Republic of China , and the countries of Central , and Eastern Europe , it

3808-544: The strategy. Trotsky believed that only united fronts could ultimately be progressive and that popular fronts were useless because they included bourgeois forces such as liberals. Trotsky also argued that in popular fronts, working-class demands are reduced to their bare minimum, and the ability of the working class to put forward its own independent set of politics is compromised. That view is now common to most Trotskyist groups. Left communist groups also oppose popular fronts, but they came to oppose united fronts as well. In

3876-419: The symbols of patriotism, to assume the role of defenders of national independence, to attack fascism without demanding an end to capitalism as the only remedy, and, most important, to enter upon alliances with other parties, on the basis of fronts or on the basis of a government in which Communists might participate. McKenzie asserted that to be a mere tactical expedient, with the broad goals of communists for

3944-403: The time that the countries in what became the Eastern Bloc had developed into Marxist–Leninist states, the non-communist parties had pushed out those members not willing to do the communists' bidding and were taken over by fellow travellers . As a result, the front had turned into a tool of the communists. The non-communist parties were required to accept the communist party's " leading role " as

4012-401: The top leadership of the WPK. The Standing Committee exercises legislative power when the SPA is in recess, which occurs during all but a few days of every year. For all intents and purposes, it is the highest organ of state power in North Korea. The Standing Committee consists of the Chairman , vice-chairmen, a secretary-general and other members, elected by the SPA. The secretary-general,

4080-413: The trauma of war would increasingly radicalise public opinion and that if the communists remained aloof from mainstream democratic politics, they would benefit from the populist mood and be swept to power. As such, non-communist socialist parties were denounced as " social fascist ". After a series of financial crises in 1926 , 1929 and 1931, public opinion in Europe was certainly radicalising but not to

4148-399: Was a need for a radical alteration of their stance, especially as Adolf Hitler had made it clear that he regarded the Soviet Union as an enemy state. In several countries over the previous years, a sense had grown within elements of the Communist Parties that the German model of "class against class" was not the most appropriate way to succeed in their national political contexts and that it

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4216-418: Was anticipated by the SPA election July 1998, when 101 military officials were elected out of 687 delegates. This was a large increase from the 57 military officials elected during the 9th SPA in 1990. Kim Yong-nam served as chairman of the Assembly Presidum from 1998 until 2019. Pak Thae-song is the Chairman (Speaker), while Pak Chol-min and Pak Kum-hui are the vice-chairmen. On April 14, 2012, during

4284-628: Was collapsing and militant policies should by rigidly maintained, As the Nazi Party came to power in 1933 in Germany , and annihilated one of the more successful communist movements in that country, it became clear fascism was both on the rise and saw Communism as an enemy to be destroyed, and that opposition to fascism was disorganized and divided. A new, less extreme policy was called for whereby Communists would form political coalitions with non-Communist socialists and even democratic non-socialists – "liberals, moderates, and even conservatives" – in "popular fronts" against fascism. Until early 1933,

4352-408: Was common to do so at the head of a "front" (such as the United Front and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in China, the National Front in Czechoslovakia , the Front of National Unity in Poland , the Democratic Bloc in East Germany , etc.) containing several ostensibly-noncommunist parties. While it was the communist party—not the fronts—that held power in these countries,

4420-404: Was necessary to build some alliance to prevent the greater threat of autocratic nationalist governments; however, figures such as Henri Barbé and Pierre Célor in France and José Bullejos and Adama in Spain, who advocated greater flexibility by co-operating loyally with social-democratic parties and possibly even left-wing capitalist parties, were removed from positions of power. Predecessors to

4488-419: Was nominated to represent his district, the symbolic Mount Paektu , in the assembly election. Voters could vote yes or no , with all voting in the affirmative, according to government officials. In 2017, the assembly created a subordinate Diplomatic Commission, which had use in terms of dialogue with international parliaments. On 11 April 2019, Choe Ryong-hae was appointed chairman of the Presidium. Under

4556-399: Was the practice for all candidates to be nominated by the parties. These nominations were examined by the United Reunification Front and then by the Central Electoral Committee, which allocated candidates to seats. The candidate in each seat was then considered by the electors in meetings at the workplace or similar, and on election day the electors could then indicate approval or disapproval of

4624-410: Was to defend perestroika against reactionary elements within the state bureaucracy, but over time, they began to question the legitimacy of their republics' membership of the Soviet Union. It was their initially cautious tone that gave them considerable freedom to organise and to gain access to the mass media. In the Baltic republics , they soon became the dominant political force and gradually gained

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