Politics

The politics of North Korea take place within a nominally democratic framework. It is officially described as a socialist republic governed according to the ideology of Juche (loosely, 'self-reliance'), although in practice, North Korea functions as a single-party state and is widely considered to be a totalitarian dictatorship. North Korea's political system is built upon the principle of centralisation. While the constitution guarantees the protection of human rights and democratic government, most power is within the hands of a ruling elite dominated by Kim Jong-il, the de facto leader of the country. The government is highly controlling and severely limits freedom of expression and participation of its citizens in government.

Kim Il-Sung, the founder of North Korea, was the country's first and only president; in the North Korean constitution he is described as the Eternal President of the Republic symbolising that he forever holds the position of President, which is formally vacant.

North Korea is a single-party state. The governing party is the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, a coalition made up of three smaller parties, the Workers Party of Korea, the Korean Social Democratic Party and the Chondoist Chongu Party. These parties nominate all candidates for office and hold all seats in the Supreme People's Assembly.

North Korea is widely considered a Communist state in the Western world, but the government has formally replaced references to Marxism-Leninism in its constitution with the locally developed concept of Juche, or self-reliance. The constitution of North Korea declares that "the Democratic People's Republic of Korea shall, by carrying out a thorough cultural revolution, train all the people to be builders of socialism and communism". Most of its policies resemble those of Communist regimes before the fall of the Soviet Union.

Constitution

North Korea's fifth and current constitution was written in September 1998, replacing the one previously adopted in 1972. Under the constitution, North Korea has an unusual legal system based upon German civil law and influenced by Japanese legal theory. Criminal penalties can be stiff; one of the basic functions of the system is to uphold the power of the regime. Because so little information is available concerning what actually occurs inside of the country, the extent to which there is any rule of law is uncertain.

Executive Branch

The Executive branch of the government of North Korea officially consists of the Premier and government ministers but in practice the most powerful body is the National Defence Commission. The position of Chairman of the National Defence Commission (held by Kim Jong-il) has been declared the 'highest office of state' and has the 'highest administrative authority' according to decrees issued by the Supreme People's Assembly.

The executive also functions in close association with the Workers' Party of Korea. Kim Jong-il is also the General Secretary of the WPK and is thus in control of most functions of government, since they largely take place through or in conjunction with the party.

Cabinet

The Cabinet of North Korea consists of the Premier, Vice Premiers and Ministers of the government. Their terms of office are concurrent with the Supreme People's Assembly. The Premier is the head of the cabinet. The cabinet exercises theoretical control over the executive ministries and has the authority to issue decrees concerning administration of the government, although in reality the government also takes its directions from Kim Jong-il.

Legislative Branch

According to the constitution, the legislative Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) is the highest organ of state power. It consists of 687 members, who are elected every five years. The Assembly usually holds only two meetings annually, each lasting a few days; this is the shortest meeting time of any parliament. A standing committee known as the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and elected by the Assembly performs legislative functions when the Assembly is not in session.

The Assembly officially chooses between, compromises upon, and ratifies the political positions on subjects put forward by the three represented parties. The president of the Supreme People's Assembly is Kim Yong Nam. Nearly all outside sources regard the SPA as a rubberstamp body, due to the short period of it sessions, uncontested elections to office, and the fact that it passes all proposals submitted by the government over a period of a few days.

Judicial Branch

In theory, North Korea's judiciary is accountable to the SPA and the Presidium. The SPA's standing committee also appoints judges to the highest court for 5-year terms that are concurrent with those of the Assembly.

North Korea's judiciary is headed by the Central Court, which consists of a Chief Justice and two People's Assessors; three judges may be present in some cases. Their terms of office coincide with those of the members of the Supreme People's Assembly. Every court in North Korea has the same composition as the Central Court.

The judiciary does not practice judicial review. The security forces so often interfere with the actions of the judiciary that the conclusion of most cases is foregone; experts outside North Korea and numerous defectors confirm this to be a widespread problem. Freedom House states that, "North Korea does not have an independent judiciary and does not acknowledge individual rights...reports of arbitrary detentions, 'disappearances,' and extrajudicial killings are common; torture is widespread and severe".

North Korea is renowned for its poor human rights situation and regularly detains thousands of dissidents without trial or benefit of legal advice. According to a US Department of State report on human rights practices, the government of North Korea often punishes the family of a criminal along with the perpetrator.

Human Rights

Amnesty International and other human rights organisations, including the North American Free Speech Association, accuse North Korea of having one of the worst human rights records of any nation, severely restricting most freedoms, including freedom of speech and freedom of movement, both inside the country and abroad. The State of World Liberty Index ranks North Korea last out of 159 countries in terms of citizens' freedom.

Foreign Relations

North and South Korea are still technically at war, however there is very little hostility between the citizens of both North and South Korea. South Koreans believe that North Koreans are still Korean, therefore they are family. Both the North and South Korean governments proclaim that they are seeking eventual reunification as a goal. North Korea's policy is to seek reunification without what it sees as outside interference, through a federal structure retaining each side's leadership and systems. Both North and South Korea signed the June 15th North-South Joint Declaration in which both sides made promises to seek out a peaceful reunification.

North Korea's relations with the United States are often regarded as tense and unpredictable and since 2000 its relations with the US have greatly deteriorated. Australia sometimes has a tense relationship with North Korea, and the media occasionally report on the ability of North Korea's missiles to reach mainland Australia. Despite this, relations are otherwise allegedly good and where applicable, travel in and out of North Korea by Australian citizens is reportedly not difficult.

North Korea has maintained close relations with the People's Republic of China and Russian Federation. The fall of communism in eastern Europe in 1989 and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in a significant drop in aid to North Korea from Russia, although China continues to provide substantial assistance. North Korea continues to have strong ties with its socialist Asian allies in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Military

Kim Jong-il is the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army and Chairman of the National Defense Commission. The Korean People's Army is the name for the collective armed personnel of the North Korean military. The army has four branches: Ground Force, Naval Force, Air Force and the Civil Securities Force. According to the US State Department, North Korea has the fourth-largest military in the world, at an estimated 1.21 million armed personnel, with about 20% of men ages 17-54 in the regular armed forces. Annual military spending is estimated as high as $5 Billion USD (20% of GDP), compared with South Korea's $21.06 Billion USD (2.5% of GDP). North Korea has perhaps the world's second-largest special operations force (estimated at 100,000 as of 2002), designed for insertion and sabotage behind enemy lines in wartime.