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The purpose of this paper is to analyze on the legislative organs and proceedings in the 1998 Constitution of North Korea, and to give a academic materials for understanding of North Korean legislations. There is the constitution (a.k.a., the "1998 amended constitution" or "Kim Il Sung's constitution"), which amended the socialist constitution to the 2nd in the First Conference of the Supreme People’s Council's(Sept. 5, 1998). The 1998 constitution made five-and-a-half years after the revision in 1992, was designed to put the finishing touches on the decades-long dynastic succession programs of Kim Jong-il.
According to constitution of North Korea, we can find the enactment of legislations and legislative organs as follows; first of all, Legislative power is exercised exclusively by the Supreme People's Assembly(SPA). And there are constitution be amended and supplemented, departmental laws was adopted, and amended and supplemented (or major departmental laws be adopted by the SPA Presidium in the intervals between the sessions of the SPA approved) by the Supreme People’s Assembly(Article 91), decisions and orders be issued by the National Defence Commission (Article 104), decrees, decisions and directions be issued by the SPA Presidium (Article 114), regulations concerning state management based on the Constitution and departmental laws be instituted, amended, and supplemented by the Cabinet (Article 119), decisions and directions be adopted by the Cabinet(Article 123), the Local People's Assembly's decisions(Article 138), the Local People's Committee's decisions and directions(Article 144).
As to the legislative proceeding of North Korea, the constitution provide for in as follows: the SPA has authority to amend and supplement the Constitution, adopt, amend and supplement departmental laws, approve major departmental laws adopted by the SPA Presidium in the intervals between the sessions of the SPA. In addition, the SPA Presidium has authority to examine and adopt new departmental bills and regulations, raised when the SPA is in recess, and examine and adopt drafts of amendment and supplement to departmental bills and regulations in force, and receive approval from the next SPA session on important departmental bills which will be adopted and implemented, interpret the Constitution, departmental laws and regulations in force, supervise the observance of laws of State organs, and adopt measures, and abolish State organs’ decisions which violate the Constitution, SPA’s laws and decisions, National Defence Commission’s decisions and orders and the SPA Presidium’s decrees, decisions and directions, and suspend the implementation of unwarranted decisions by a Local People’s Assembly. But it was estimated that North Korean legislations is non-systematic framework, unclear legislative proceedings.
Despite the fact that the legislative framework of North Korea is very non-systematical process compare to our legislative system, recent maintenance of legislation of Kim Jong-il's regime working formal and qualitative change. It can be seen its change through the legislations related to foreign investment and economic opendoor policy and administlative affairs in front of internal and external circumstances. In the study, moreover, it explains to the function of the legislative organs and the relationship between its organs in the course of the legislative process, comparative analysis to our legislative system. Studying legislative organs and proceedings of North Korea will not only contribute to an accurate understanding of legislative formation and organs, but also provide a starting point for reaching a consensus in unifying the different legal system, exchange and cooperation of legal aspects of the inter-Korea.