The Constitution clearly stipulates that the chairman has authority to direct
the overall affairs of the state,
(^66) including national defense, such as to command
and direct all the armed forces, and to guide the work of the NDC as the supreme
commander of the whole armed forces.^67 In addition, the chairman has authority
to ratify or rescind major treaties concluded with other countries, and to exercise
the right of granting special pardon,^68 which belonged to the Presidium of the
SPA in the previous constitution.^69 The chairman has the authority to issue
orders^70 and to submit items to the SPA for its consideration.^71 The chairman
of the NDC exercises legitimate command of state affairs on the basis of the
constitution without the conduit of the Party. The chairman of the NDC is now,
de jure as well as de facto, the highest organ of the state. The strengthened
status of the chairman of the NDC entailed the relative decline of the status
of the SPA.
Another characteristic is the removal of the term “communism”;
72
while the
military-first (songun) ideology was newly added to the existingJucheideology.
73
North Korea would like to discontinue its association with the term “communism.”
For the regime, the word “socialism” is enough to entertain flexibility for possible
change in the future. The utopian dream of communism was essentially renounced
after Kim Jong-il claimed “military-first politics” as his ruling ideology. This ideology
was inserted in the Constitution alongside Kim Il-sung’sJucheideology, in addition
to the elevation of the chairmanship of the NDC. With the persistence of the
country’s economic difficulty, for the regime, it would seem that the military is the
most important body on which it will rely for the survival of the North Korean system.
In the section on the economy, no changes were made (whereas the 1998
revision had brought in many changes in this area). In the day-to-day reality of
the economy, however, significant changes have occurred. For example, general
markets are so pervasive in the daily life of ordinary North Korean residents that the
people can now hardly survive without those markets. Special economic zones
(the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and Mount Geumgang Tourist Zone) were
installed at the border with South Korea in the early 2000 s. Therefore, new
developments in this area were anticipated. Since no economy-related changes
appeared in the 2009 constitution, one may infer that North Korea intends to
the same time, general (daejang) of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) on September 28 ,
2010. After Kim Jong-il’s sudden death in mid-December 2011 , Kim Jong-un was hailed as
the DPRK supreme leader (December 17 , 2011 ) and supreme commander of the KPA
(December 30 , 2011 ), and then finally officially given the positions of KWP first secretary
(April 11 , 2012 ) and NDC first chairman (April 13 , 2012 ).
(^662009) constitution, Art. 103 ( 1 ). (^67) Ibid., Arts. 102 and 103 ( 2 ).
(^68) Ibid., Arts. 103 ( 4 ) and ( 5 ). (^691998) constitution, Art. 110 ( 14 ) and ( 17 ).
(^702009) constitution, Art. 104. (^71) Ibid., Art. 95.
(^72) The word “communism” appears in Arts. 29 , 40 , and 43 in the 1998 constitution.
(^732009) constitution, Art. 3.