Constitution of North Korea

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Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Overview
Original title	조선민주주의인민공화국 사회주의헌법
Jurisdiction	Korea
Presented	23 October 1972
Ratified	27 December 1972
Date effective	27 December 1972
System	Unitary one-party socialist republic
Government structure
Branches	3
Head of state	President of the State Affairs Commission
Chambers	Unicameral (Supreme People's Assembly)
Executive	Premier-led Cabinet
Judiciary	Central Court
Electoral college	Supreme People's Assembly
History
First legislature	25 December 1972
First executive	27 December 1972
First court	27 December 1972
Amendments	10
Last amended	28 September 2023
Commissioned by	Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
Author(s)	Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
Signatories	Supreme People's Assembly
Supersedes	1948 Constitution

Politics of North Korea
Constitution Juche  (state ideology) Songun  ("military-first" policy) Eternal leaders Kim Il Sung Kim Jong Il
Workers' Party of Korea Congress (8th) General Secretary and Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un Rules Central Committee (8th) Politburo (8th) Presidium (8th) Kim Jong Un Choe Ryong-hae Jo Yong-won Kim Tok-hun Ri Pyong-chol Secretariat (8th) Central Military Commission (8th) Chairman Kim Jong Un Vice Chairman Ri Yong-gil Ri Pyong-chol Central Auditing Commission (8th) Chairman Kim Jae-ryong Organization and Guidance Department Propaganda and Agitation Department United Front Department
Supreme People's Assembly 14th term Chairman Pak In-chol Standing Committee (14th) Chairman Choe Ryong-hae Judiciary Central Court (14th) President Kang Yun-sok Central Public Prosecutors (14th) Director Kim Myong-gil
State Affairs Commission 14th term President Kim Jong Un First Vice President Choe Ryong-hae Vice President Kim Tok-hun
Cabinet 14th term Premier Kim Tok-hun Vice Premier Pak Jong-gun Jon Hyon-chol Kim Song-ryong Ri Song-hak Pak Hun Ju Chol-gyu
Elections Recent elections Parliamentary: 2009 2014 2019 Local: 2015 2019 2023
Administrative divisions First-level Provinces Special cities Second-level cities Kun  (county) Third-level Eup  (town) Dong  (neighborhood) Ri  (village) Rodonjagu  (workers' district)
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Choe Son-hui Diplomatic missions of / in North Korea Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Korean conflict Korean reunification
Related topics Censorship Human rights Kim family Propaganda Illicit activities Law Enforcement Security Ministry
North Korea portal Other countries
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The Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국 사회주의헌법) is the constitution of North Korea. It was approved by the 6th Supreme People's Assembly at its first session on 27 December 1972, and has been amended and supplemented in 1998, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019 (twice), and in 2023. It replaced the country's first constitution which was approved in 1948.

The constitution consists of seven chapters and 172 articles and codifies North Korea's basic principles on politics, economy, culture and national defense, the basic rights and duties of the country's citizens, the organization of the North Korean government and the country's national symbols.

North Korea is also governed by the Ten Principles for the Establishment of a Monolithic Ideological System, which some claim have come to supersede the constitution and in practice serve as the supreme law of the country.^[1][2][3]