North Korea holds Supreme People's Assembly elections today

On March 10, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea held elections for the Supreme People's Assembly (Parliament) to elect representatives for a five-year term. This political event is believed to be aimed at strengthening national unity, especially in the context of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un choosing economic development as the country's urgent task at present.

Polling stations are open from 9am to 6pm. Candidates for this election are from workers, farmers, intellectuals and soldiers who have worked hard to protect the ideals of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and fight for the country's development. The voter turnout in the 2014 election, the first since leader Kim Jong-un came to power, was 99.97%. The results of the 2014 election were announced two days after the vote.

Observers say that this parliamentary election is an important political event to further strengthen national unity. Rodong Sinmun - the mouthpiece of the Workers' Party of Korea, emphasized that the election took place at a "very meaningful" time. According to Rodong Sinmun, this election demonstrates the people's steadfast belief and strong support for the supreme leader in dealing with the challenges facing the country. The newspaper also affirmed that the challenges facing North Korea today also require the role and function of the government to promote the economy in general and improve living conditions for the people.

Socio-economic development and improving people's living conditions are also among the urgent tasks set by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this week. This is the first message from leader Kim Jong-un released publicly after he returned home from his second summit with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi.

In a letter to a national conference of propaganda officials held in Pyongyang, leader Kim Jong-un stressed the need to focus all efforts on building a socialist economy. He called on officials in the ruling Workers' Party of Korea to work hard to educate citizens ideologically to ensure "great progress in socialist economic construction".

With a strategic geographical location, North Korea has been assessed by many world leaders as having special economic potential. US President Donald Trump commented: “I told Chairman Kim Jong-un that he has the opportunity to turn North Korea into one of the most dynamic economies in the world. With its unique location, between China, Russia, and South Korea, they cannot connect without going through North Korea. In addition to the great location, the North Korean people are hard-working, intelligent, energetic, I think this can become one of the greatest economies and financial nations in the world.”

The second US-North Korea summit ended in Hanoi last month without a joint statement, due to disagreements over the extent of North Korea's willingness to denuclearize and the US's willingness to ease sanctions on Pyongyang.

A series of unfavorable information was released after the meeting, such as North Korea preparing to launch a missile or restoring a nuclear facility. However, the fact that the US and North Korea still leave open the possibility of continuing dialogue makes public opinion still optimistic about the prospect of peace on the Korean peninsula, as well as the opportunity for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to fulfill his commitment to economic development in the 2016-2020 five-year plan./.