Separations of Power In North Korea
The History of North Korea starts towards the end of world war 2. Japan Surrendering made for the division of North Korea at the 38th parallel. Kim Il-sung was the leader until his death in 1994. Due to the short History there hasn’t been enough time for things like instability and assassinations to occur. Kim Jong un is the current leader of North Korea and is Il-sung’s grandson. His title as leader is unofficial as Kim il sung leader ship is written into the constitution and is still officially the eternal leader making North Korea the only necrocracy in the world. Kim jong Un’s position makes him head of both Government and military. North Korea is a totalitarian state run by a dictator, Totalitarianism is a political concept of a mode of government that prohibits opposition parties, restricts individual opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high degree of control over public and private life.
Thesis:
North Korea is an undemocratic nation due to its blatant breach of the liberal democratic principles of separation of power, constitutionalism and freedom of media. North Korea has signed the declaration of human rights however is the second lowest country in terms of abiding by this declaration.
Separations of Power:
North Korea is failing to uphold the liberal democratic principle of separation of power due to the lack of independence that the judiciary has from parliament. The separation of power doctrine is when powers and responsibilities are divided among the legislative branch, executive branch, and judicial branch, each branch should limit one another’s power so there is no one branch more powerful than the other. The central court in North Korea is the supreme judicial institution, and judges in North Korea are elected by the Supreme People’s Assembly. Cases in North Korea are mainly heard by only one judge and two assessors. The legislative arm of North Korea consists of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), in this assembly 687 deputies are elected by a secret ballot in every 5 years. Although the idea of being elected in a secret ballot means that the legislative would be separate from the other arms, only one name comes up on the paper, this name is preapproved by the cabinet and ministers, who are part of the executive branch which means the executive is deciding on who is a part of the legislative branch. Another way North Korea violate the principle of separation of powers is that the legislative branch, the SPA chooses the president, justices and can elect and recall the head of court, which means that the legislative virtually controls the court system.
The legislature also elects the premier of the country and three vice premiers along with the cabinet. Due to the legislative literally having control over both the executive branch and the judicial branch. Above all is the chief of state who is Kim Jong un and his power should be limited by the checks and balances of the three branches, however the SPA is forced by Un to elect the vice premiers and the cabinet and are also forced by Un to dismiss members aswell. Overall there is virtually no separation of powers and because of this the Supreme leader controls every aspect of daily life. From enforcing and creating laws, to manipulating the media, there is no separation of power within North Korea.
