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North Korea has abruptly postponed a regular session of its parliament slated for March 9. The official (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Friday the presidium of the Stalinist country's Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) was postponing the third session of the 11th assembly ¡°at the request of deputies to the SPA in all domains of the socialist structure." The new date would be announced later, KCNA said.
This is the first time a regular session of the tightly controlled North Korean parliament has been postponed indefinitely.
South Korean observers put forward several conjectures why that might be so. Some say the session could indeed be delayed due to internal issues like the re-appropriation of the budget or the revision of economic policies, as the North claims. The session was ostensibly scheduled to balance last year's accounts and review this year's budget.
But others spot a connection with Pyongyang's boycott of six-party talks on its nuclear program, saying the move might be aimed at putting the country's people on their guard and thus ensure internal unity. It is also likely that preparations for the session were simply not completed in time.
A remote possibility is that the move is linked to some shift in North Korea's power structure. After former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung died in July 1994, parliamentary elections were postponed for three years.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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