r
2008)
election results: KIM Jong Il and KIM Yong Nam were only nominees
for positions and ran unopposed

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 3 August 2003 (next to be held in August 2008)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party -
NA; ruling party approves a list of candidates who are elected
without opposition; some seats are held by minor parties

Judicial branch:

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

Political parties and leaders:

major party - Korean Workers' Party or KWP [KIM Jong Il]; minor
parties - Chondoist Chongu Party [RYU Mi Yong] (under KWP control),
Social Democratic Party [KIM Yong Dae] (under KWP control)

Political pressure groups and leaders:

none

International organization participation:

ARF, FAO, G-77, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, IOC, IPU, ISO,
ITSO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

none; North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:

none; note - Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang 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

Economy
Korea, North

Economy - overview:

North Korea, one of the world's most centrally directed and least
open economies, faces chronic economic problems. Industrial capital
stock is nearly beyond repair as a result of years of
underinvestment and shortages of spare parts. Industrial and power
output have declined in parallel from pre-1990 levels. Due in part
to severe summer flooding followed by dry weather conditions in the
fall of 2006, the nation suffered its 13th year of food shortages
because of on-going systemic problems including a lack of arable
land, collective farming practices, and persistent shortages of
tractors and fuel. During the summer of 2007, severe flooding again
occurred. Large-scale international food aid deliveries have allowed
the people of North Korea to escape widespread starvation since
famine threatened in 1995, but the population continues to suffer
from prolonged malnutrition