hankyoreh

By Kim Kyu-won, staff reporter
The presidium of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) decided on Sept. 5 to hold a sixth meeting in Pyongyang on Sept. 25, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
The announcement is drawing attention from observers, since it would be the second meeting in one calendar year, an unusual occurrence. The twelfth SPA was convened in April.
The presidium did not mention the agenda in its announcement, which only told SPA representatives they would be registering on Sept. 23 and 24. The fifth meeting in April provided legal and institutional support for the administration under new leader Kim Jong-un, electing the Workers’ Party of Korea first secretary as first National Defense Commission (NDC) chairman and amending the country’s Socialist Constitution. This would be the third time two SPA meetings have been held in one year, after similar occurrences in 2003 and 2010.
The SPA typically meets in April of each year to enact and amend laws, establish basic national policy principles, appoint NDC members, review and approve reports on the country’s economic development plan and its implementation, and discuss major national concerns such as budgets and accounts.
Observers are now turning their attention to the potential agenda. Experts predicted there might be a decision made on the so-called “June 28 measures” for limited economic reforms. This may mean policies for improved economic management, with expansions to a number of areas known to be under examination, including land usage rights for farmers, autonomy for farms and enterprises, and discretionary authority to dispose of surplus yields.
“We may see a decision on things like the timing for implementing economic management policies, the actors involved, or their specific content,” said University of North Korean Studies professor Yang Mu-jin.
Chang Yong-seok, a researcher at the Seoul National University Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, said the meeting could see revision of relevant laws and changes to the system or personnel and organizational changes to support the economic development plan or economic management improvement measures.
“I think the very fact that [the country] is handling a major national concern transparently through a Supreme People’s Assembly meeting is a sign of the new leadership from Kim Jong-un,” Chang said.
A government official questioned whether economic reform measures could be discussed at the meeting, since they are still in their test stages.
“Personnel and organizational matters are one thing, but it seems a bit premature for measures to improve management of the economy,” the official said.
On Sept. 5, North Korea sent an official letter to the Unification Church wishing condolences on the passing of church founder and leader Moon Sun-myung. The church operates the auto company Pyeonghwa Motors in North Korea. Company president Park Sang-kwon came back to Seoul and said he had received the North’s letter of condolences. He did not confirm that the North was planning to send a delegation to Moon’s funeral. The Ministry of Unification said on the same day that the North would not send a delegation to Moon’s funeral, to be held on Sept. 15.
A Unification Ministry official said, “We heard from Park that the North decided not to dispatch representatives to South Korea.”
In December 2011, Unification Church president Moon Hyung-jin visited North Korea to attend a memorial service for leader Kim Jong-il.
　
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