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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| N. Korea Announces Surprise Parliamentary Session |
| 2010-05-20 |
| North Korea's rubberstamp parliament will unusually convene again next month, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday. The session comes just two months after parliament convened on April 9. This is the first time that the Supreme People's Assembly has convened twice in the span of just two months. When former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung was in power, parliament met twice a year -- in the first and second half. But since Kim Jong-il came to power, sessions have been held only once a year. There were two sessions in 2003 but they came six months apart. "It is extremely rare for North Korea's parliament to convene twice a year and is a sign that an urgent matter has come up," a Unification Ministry official said. Experts say the "urgent matter" is most likely the fallout from the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan. "The announcement of the results of the investigation into the sinking and consequent sanctions against North Korea will both be announced at the end of this month, and the SPA session is probably North Korea's emergency response," speculated Nam Joo-hong, a North Korea watcher at Kyonggi University. Experts say the SPA is likely to deny sinking the ship and adopt a statement denouncing the South. Kim's recent visit to China may also be on the table. Kim Young-soo, a North Korea expert at Sogang University, said, "North Korea will probably exaggerate the accomplishments of the China visit and tout them in front of the North Korean people." Nam said, "The recent summit between Kim Jong-il and Hu Jintao was an unusual meeting that was made to look like a demonstration of the special relationship between the two countries, but both North Korea and China were dissatisfied with the results. The SPA session will be an attempt to contain the fallout." Others speculate that the session will be asked to ratify various measures to secure the handover of power from Kim to his third son Jong-un. Kim Yong-hyun of Dongguk University said, "There appears to be a need to speed up the reshuffle of officials at the powerful National Defense Commission and other organs." This is why, experts say, the first vice minister of the People's Armed Forces Kim Il-chol (80) was recently put out to pasture. |
| Posted by:Steve White |