N. Korea Calls Parliament Meeting For Oct 7 To Amend Constitution

Yonhap News Agency (citing the Korean Central News Agency) reports that North Korea will convene a parliamentary meeting on October 7 to discuss the proposed amendments to the constitution, which would formally designate South Korea as the reclusive country's "primary foe."

• North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un called for the constitutional change during a Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) meeting in January, abandoning the earlier formal commitment to Korean unification. This was followed by the dismantling of the Arch of Reunification in Pyongyang in a symbolic act serving to reaffirm a policy pivot.
• North Korea was supposed to hold an election to the SPA in March but appears to have delayed it, with experts noting that works on the constitutional amendments ordered by Kim Jong-un might be the reason. There has been no communication out of North Korea on the new timing of the election to the rubber-stamp legislature, which in any case is not expected to be free or fair.
• The overhaul of constitutional provisions surrounding inter-Korean relations represent further escalation in North Korea's alienation from its neighbour and other US allies in the region, with Pyongyang investing heavily in its ties with Russia. Earlier today, Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui departed to Russia, where she will attend the Eurasian Women's Forum and the BRICS Women's Forum.