At the 12th session of North Korea’s 14th Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) in January, Kim Jong Un’s policy speech provided no indication of North Korea’s policy direction toward the United States. Nor was there any announcement regarding constitutional amendments removing the concepts of “reunification” and “one people”.

Two years have passed since the five-year term of assembly deputies expired, highlighting that North Korea’s SPA functions merely as a symbolic “sovereign institution” and an auxiliary body to the Workers’ Party’s policy decisions. However, the SPA plays a role in legitimizing these decisions and reflecting the distribution of power among governing institutions. Additionally, statements made by Kim Jong Un and other officials at SPA sessions carry considerable implications. Given this context, this Issue Brief analyzes the activities of the 14th SPA over the past six years since April 2019.

This article is an English Summary of Asan Issue Brief (2025-07).

(‘북한의 14기 최고인민회의 활동 평가’)