5
Constitutional change in North Korea
Dae-Kyu Yoon*
i. introduction
From the perspective of constitutional discourse, in the first decade of the
twenty-first century, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North
Korea) made hardly any significant changes to its constitution except the revisions
of 2009 and 2012. Neither its past significant changes nor its recent ones have been
well reported, for constitutionalism and the rule of law is lacking in this isolated
state. Therefore, this chapter reviews the series of constitutional changes made by
the DPRK since the 1990 s. Just like any other country, North Korea has revised its
constitution in order to adapt itself to the changing environment of domestic and
world affairs. This chapter describes and analyzes each amendment (i.e. 1992 , 1998 ,
2009 , and 2012 ) that followed the constitution of 1972 , and discusses relevant
social changes that have led to these constitutional amendments on the basis of
the 1972 constitution. All of them involve the political power of the leader.
While the 1972 constitution manifested the completion of Kim Il-sung’s dictator-
ship, the others after it were occasioned by the succession of power.
Discussion is limited to the texts of the Constitution since there is no case known
to outside observers that would afford us an understanding of its real operation in
the daily life of North Koreans.
Constitutional processes in North Korea, including the process of constitutional
amendment, are not addressed here because all constitutional processes in North
Korea are, by design, endorsed without opposition and manipulated by the coun-
try’s top leadership^1 – an undisputable reality of the totalitarianism housed within
* This chapter largely builds upon the author’s previous work, “The constitution of North
Korea: its changes and implications,” which appears in (April 2004 ) 27 ( 4 )Fordham
International Law Journal 1289. Sectionsviiandviiiwere newly written for this chapter.(^1) The authority to adopt and amend the constitution in the DPRK has belonged to the
Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) since the first constitution. See 1948 Constitution, Art.