Elections in North Korea

[9] Members of the Supreme People's Assembly are elected to five-year terms, and meet for SPA sessions up to ten days per year.

[11] In 2023, the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly amended and supplemented North Korea's election law.

[12] Minju Choson, the newspaper of the cabinet and the SPA Standing Committee, stated that North Korea would implement a primary-like system in some constituencies, fielding two candidates to pick the nominee in the single-candidate main elections for People's Assemblies at every level.

[12] Previously, the candidates were solely picked by the WPK, and this change would mark the first competitive elections in North Korea since 1948.

Regarding this, scholar Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul stated that "They have a dual system: there is a mayor/governor, technically elected (but actually appointed), and there is a city/province party secretary.

It is the latter who has real power, but mayor/governor can be important in some cases as long as he knows his proper place and does not challenge the Workers' Party of Korea secretary.