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1. A Change in Constitutional Title After 54 Years

On March 15, 2026, 687 deputies were elected to the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly. Subsequently, on March 22, the 1st Session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly was convened. The session included five principal agenda items: (1) the “Election of the President of State Affairs”; (2) the “Election of State Leadership Organs”; (3) the “Election of Sectoral Committees of the Supreme People’s Assembly”; (4) the “Revision and Supplementation of the Socialist Constitution”; and (5) the “Issue of Implementing the New National Economic Development Five-Year Plan” as presented at the 9th Congress of the Korean Workers’ Party. In addition, the session addressed the audit of the 2025 state budget's implementation and the proposed 2026 state budget.

The session was convened to elect the heads of state organs whose legal terms had expired following the 9th Party Congress, as well as the leadership responsible for operating the newly constituted Supreme People’s Assembly. It was, in essence, a session held to provide the legal foundation to support the decisions of the 9th Congress of the Korean Workers’ Party.

One of the matters of significant interest was the “Revision of the Constitution.” This was the first item on the agenda of the newly constituted Supreme People’s Assembly, which had been newly organized through elections for the President of State Affairs and other state leadership organs, as well as the sectoral committees. The newly elected Chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly, Cho Yong-won, delivered a report in which he explained both the renaming of the constitutional title and the revised and supplemented content, stating that “revising and supplementing the Constitution of the Republic, the legal foundation and political charter for the dignity, sovereignty, and independent development of the country and its people, in accordance with the demands of the new stage of revolutionary development, constitutes the establishment of a landmark milestone in legally guaranteeing the victorious advance of socialist construction and our cause.” The revision and supplementation of the Constitution—including the renaming from “The Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” to “The Constitution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”—was passed unanimously, as anticipated.

The reason this renaming of the constitutional title has attracted attention is that it marks the first change in the “title of the Constitution” in as many as 54 years. A constitution defines the supreme authority of a state. Naturally, the status of the constitution in North Korea differs from that in other states. In North Korea, the constitution occupies a position subordinate to the ideology of the supreme leader and the rules of the Korean Workers’ Party. State policy is not determined in accordance with the constitution. Rather, the Party’s rules are codified in accordance with the ideology of the supreme leader, and the constitution is revised to conform to the decisions of the Party. Whenever the Party Congress—the supreme congress of the Korean Workers’ Party—is convened, the constitution is revised to reflect its decisions. The present revision and supplementation of the Constitution was likewise a revision undertaken to incorporate the outcomes of the most recent Party Congress.

2. The Constitution and the Reconstitution of National Identity

Even though North Korea’s constitution is determined by the ideology of the supreme leader and the rules of the Korean Workers’ Party, it cannot be said to be of low standing. This is because the constitution externally represents North Korea’s identity on the international stage. It formally codifies, for external purposes, the character of the state, the composition of power, national symbols, and other elements that are deliberated internally within North Korea.

North Korea first enacted its constitution in September 1948. Entering a preparatory phase of state-building following liberation, North Korea sought to establish its governing system. It moved swiftly to begin preparations for the enactment of a constitution, which would serve as the foundation of the state. On November 14, 1947, the United Nations decided, in accordance with a U.S. proposal, to organize the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea. In response, on November 18, 1947, North Korea initiated the process of constitutional enactment through a “Report on Preparations for the Enactment of a Provisional Constitution of Korea” at the Third Session of the North Korean People’s Assembly. On the following day, November 19, 1947, the “Committee for the Enactment of the Provisional Constitution of Korea” was inaugurated, and on November 20 the First meeting of the “Committee for the Enactment of the Provisional Constitution of Korea” was held. On December 20, 1947, a draft constitution was prepared at the second meeting of the Committee for the Enactment of the Provisional Constitution of Korea.

The constitution was then enacted on September 8, 1948, at the First Session of the 1st Supreme People’s Assembly. The title of the constitution at that time was “The Constitution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” It codified the national symbols representing North Korea externally. This included Article 1—“Our country is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”—which established the official national name, alongside provisions for the national flag and the national emblem.

Notably, although North Korea enacted its constitution on September 8, 1948, the “Constitution Day” (Heonbeop-jeol) that commemorates the constitution falls on December 27. This differs from the Republic of Korea, which designates July 17, 1948—the date on which the constitution was first promulgated—as Constitution Day (Jeheon-jeol).

The “December 27” that North Korea commemorates as Constitution Day refers to December 27, 1972. On that date, North Korea revised its constitution at the First Session of the 5th Supreme People’s Assembly. The core of the revision was the redefinition of national identity. Article 1 of the 1948 Constitution—“Our country is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”—was changed in the revised 1972 Constitution to read: “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is an independent socialist state representing the interests of the entire Korean people.” The national identity was thus redefined as an “independent socialist state” and publicly proclaimed externally. The title of the constitution was also changed to “The Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” In order to commemorate this constitution—which proclaimed the national identity as an “independent socialist state”—Constitution Day was set on December 27 and has been observed as such. Then, on March 15, 2026, the title was changed back to “The Constitution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” the name used at the time of original enactment.

3. The Legalization of Inter-Korean Relations as a “Two-State” Relationship

The removal of “socialist” from the title of the constitution does not signify an abandonment of socialism. Rather, it is interpreted as an intention to strengthen the character of North Korea as a normal state in the eyes of the international community. It signifies a shift from the previous defensive posture of emphasizing the particularity of its “our style” to a more proactive stance of strengthening its activities as a universal state. Internally, it is understood as an intention to reinforce the legal framework of the constitution; externally, it reflects a desire to project the image of a republic governed by the rule of law.

At noon on June 9, 2020, condemning the South Korean government’s response to the scattering of anti-North Korea leaflets, Pyongyang severed all inter-Korean communication and liaison lines. North Korea declared the “transformation of inter-Korean affairs into confrontational affairs” and announced the severing of inter-Korean relations. Subsequently, it demolished the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office and abolished agencies dealing with South Korea. Furthermore, at the Ninth Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee of the Korean Workers’ Party in 2023, it officially declared a fundamental shift in its policy toward South Korea by designating South Korea as “our principal enemy” and defining inter-Korean relations as “a relationship between two hostile and belligerent states.”

Kim Jong Un further ordered that the newly defined inter-Korean relationship be codified into law. In his policy speech at the Tenth Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly, convened on January 15, 2024, Kim Jong Un stated that “newly establishing the national stance on inter-Korean relations and unification policy at the Supreme People’s Assembly, which deliberates on the national laws of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” is “an indispensable process that must absolutely be addressed.” He also directed “legal measures to legitimately and precisely define the sovereign territory of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as a socialist state.” Specifically, he stated: “I believe that the expressions ‘northern half,’ ‘independent, peaceful reunification, and great national unity’ in the constitution must now be deleted. I believe that these shifts should be reflected in a revision of the Constitution of the Republic, and that this should be deliberated at the next session of the Supreme People’s Assembly.”

Following his 2014 policy speech, Kim Jong Un reiterated—in his speech at the Thirteenth Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly on September 14, 2025—the need to reflect the changed inter-Korean relations in the constitution. One of the grounds on which Kim Jong Un argued for the clear legal redefinition of inter-Korean relations was the Constitution of the Republic of Korea.

In his speech at the Thirteenth Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly, Kim Jong Un emphasized the authority of the constitution, stating that “the Thirteenth Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea… is carrying out its work successfully, standing on the mission and authority conferred by the Constitution of the Republic.” Regarding the possession of nuclear weapons, he also stated: “Our possession of nuclear weapons is national law, and we bear a legal obligation to defend it.” This constituted an emphasis on the obligation to enact and abide by the law.

Regarding the need to redefine inter-Korean relations, he also invoked the territorial provisions of the South Korean constitution. He stated: “By inscribing the phrase ‘the territory of the Republic of Korea shall consist of the Korean peninsula and its adjacent islands’ in the first Constitution of the Republic of Korea fabricated and promulgated in July 1948, Rhee Syngman codified in writing the most inherent hostility toward our state.” He further stated that “although the South Korean government has changed more than ten times and the constitution has been amended nine times, nothing has changed in the territorial provisions of the constitution, which target aggression against and annexation of our Republic.”

The content of the revised constitution has not yet been confirmed. Whether the border provisions that Kim Jong Un has emphasized since 2023 are included has also not been confirmed; however, he had previously used the expression “border,” including the phrase “southern border of the Republic.” It appears highly likely that this aspect has been codified in the present constitutional revision. The most recent constitutional revision consolidated the status of the constitution as the supreme law of North Korea, and the principle that inter-Korean relations constitute a “two-state” relationship was declared as an irreversible principle enshrined therein. ■

■ Youngsun JEON is a Professor at the Humanities Research Institute, Konkuk University.

■ Translated and edited by Sangjun LEE, EAI Research Associate; Inhwan OH, EAI Senior Research Fellow; Sowon KIM EAI Intern.
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