ssembly;
election last held NA September 1998 (next to be held NA)

election results: HONG Song-nam elected premier; percent of Supreme
People's Assembly vote - NA%

Legislative branch: unicameral Supreme People's Assembly or Ch'oego
Inmin Hoeui (687 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve
five-year terms)

elections: last held 26 July 1998 (next to be held NA 2003)

election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -
the KWP approves a single list of candidates who are elected without
opposition; minor parties hold a few seats

Judicial branch: Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme
People's Assembly)

Political parties and leaders: Chondoist Chongu Party [YU Mi-yong,
chairwoman]; Korean Social Democratic Party [KIM Pyong-sik,
chairman]; major party - Korean Workers' Party or KWP [KIM Chong-il,
General Secretary]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: ARF (dialogue partner),
ESCAP, FAO, G-77, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, Intelsat
(nonsignatory user), IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO

Diplomatic representation in the US: none; note - North Korea has a
Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, headed by YI Hyong-chol

Diplomatic representation from the US: none (Swedish Embassy in
P'yongyang represents the US as consular protecting power)

Flag description: three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple
width), and blue; the red band is edged in white; on the hoist side
of the red band is a white disk with a red five-pointed star

Korea, North Economy

Economy - overview: North Korea, one of the world's most centrally
planned and isolated economies, faces desperate economic conditions.
Industrial capital stock is nearly beyond repair as a result of
years of underinvestment and spare parts shortages. The nation faces
its seventh year of food shortages because of weather-related
problems, including major drought in 2000, and chronic shortages of
fertilizer and fuel. Massive international food aid deliveries have
allowed the regime to escape the major consequence of spreading
economic failure, such as mass starvation, but the population
remains vulnerable to prolonged malnutrition and deteriorating
living conditions. Large-scale military spending eats up resources
needed for expanding investment and consumption goods. In 2000, the
regime placed emphasis on expandin