DPRK to hold top legislative session in April

PYONGYANG - The third session of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will take place in Pyongyang on April 9th, official news agency KCNA reported Friday.

The decision was announced Tuesday by the Presidium of the SPA, and the registration of voters will start on April 7th, the KCNA said in a brief dispatch without elaborating further.

The SPA, the highest legislative body of the DPRK, convenes once or twice a year. The first session of the 13th SPA, which was held on April 9 last year, re-elected top leader Kim Jong Un the first chairman of the National Defense Commission (NDC) and Pak Pong Ju the premier of the DPRK cabinet.

In the second meeting of 13th SPA, convened on Sept. 25, senior official Hwang Pyong So was elected vice chairman of the NDC, replacing Choe Ryong Hae, a top official of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

The 13th SPA comprises 687 deputies across the country, who were elected in March last year for a five-year term.

The SPA has the power to adopt, amend or supplement enactments to the constitution, determine state policies and budgets, and adjust the country's leadership.