inhibits rapid growth toward a market economy. These changes were made within
tolerable limits for the regime’s survival without undermining the current
status quo. All told, this constitution manifested the dilemma that North Korean
leaders faced.
vii. the constitution of 2009: changes for another
power successionAs the North Korean brinkmanship strategy for its survival has been anchored to the
development of nuclear arms – which, the regime believes, is the most effective
means to protect itself from outside threats – pressure from the international
community led by the United States has intensified. Resolution of this nuclear
issue is critical to the survival of the regime. Meanwhile, North Korean leader
Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke in August 2008. His precarious state of health led to
the somewhat hasty finalizing of the succession issue, as Kim all but officially
designated one among his three sons (Kim Jong-un) his heir. From a consti-
tutional perspective, the Constitution would have to be revised to incorporate
the future succession of his son to power to give the son more stable and
legitimate authority. These developments are key to understanding the revision to
the Constitution in 2009.
The 2009 constitution consists of 172 articles, six more than the 1998 constitution,
although both have seven chapters.^62 In particular,Chapter 6 created a section on
“The Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea”^63 separate from “The National Defense Commission.” The new
constitution reinforced the status and power of the chairman of the NDC. The
newly created Article 100 , which is worthy of attention, expressly provides for the
status of the chairman as the supreme leader of the DPRK.^64 The country name (i.e.
DPRK) is unusually written together with the term “Chairman” in order to give the
position a more authoritative aura. Thus, the chairmanship has been elevated to the
highest position from a constitutional perspective. This change gave more solid
authority to the young heir who, being in his twenties, lacks experience and
therefore may be seen as somewhat incapable of gripping the reins of power over
the party and the military. Regardless, Kim Jong-un was elevated to the position of
first chairman of the NDC four months after his father’s death.
65
(^62) For an unofficial English translation of the 2009 constitution, seehttp://asiamatters.blog-
spot.com/ 2009 / 10 /north-korean-constitution-april- 2009 .html.
(^63) Chapter 6 , Section 2 , has six articles from Art. 100 to Art. 105.
(^64) Article 100 states: “The Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea is the supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea.”
(^65) Kim Jong-un, the third son of Kim Jong-il, made his formal appearance by appointment as
vice chairman of Central Military Committee of the Korea Workers’ Party (KWP) and, at