According to a statement released last Friday, North Korea has announced that the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) Standing Committee’s 12th session will convene on January 22, 2025, in Pyongyang.
North Korea’s state-run newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported that the decision was made during the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly Standing Committee’s 34th plenary session held last Thursday.
The newspaper stated that the first SPA meeting of the year will discuss various issues, including “the Cabinet’s performance for 2024 and tasks for 2025, the settlement of the 2024 state budget and deliberation of the 2025 state budget, review and adoption of the Building Materials Industry Law and the Marine Farming Law, the performance of the Central Court for 2024, amendments to certain articles of the Socialist Constitution, and organizational matters.”
Among these, the amendment of certain articles in the “Socialist Constitution” is expected to include new provisions related to inter-Korean relations as defined by North Korea. Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, directed constitutional amendments during the January 2024 SPA session, reportedly aiming to remove terms related to reunification and introduce territorial clauses that reflect hostile two-state relations. However, no specific inter-Korean policy amendments were publicly disclosed a year later.
During the SPA meeting held on October 7 to 8, North Korea revealed changes to the election law regarding age eligibility. Ten days later, the regime announced the demolition of the Gyeongui Line and Donghae Line roads and railways, claiming it was aligned with the Republic’s Constitution’s demand to regulate South Korea as a thoroughly hostile state. This development suggested that constitutional amendments reflecting hostile two-state relations might already have been enacted, although no official announcement has confirmed this.
North Korea has also announced a Workers’ Party plenary meeting at the end of this month to review its 2024 achievements and outline its agenda for 2025. The upcoming SPA session is anticipated to follow up on the inter-Korean policies established during this year-end plenary.
In addition, North Korea reported that it adopted new laws, including the Signal Code Management Law and the Noise Pollution Prevention Law, during the recent plenary session. The Rodong Sinmun also noted that appointments of judges and people’s assessors to the Central Court were finalized.