North’s Parliament may reveal policy direction: Seoul

Seoul, Aug 26 (IANS) South Korea on Monday said that this week’s meeting of the North Korean Parliament would be a good opportunity to understand the policy direction Pyongyang wants to take after a series of weapon tests amid a deadlock in denculearization talks.

“I think North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly meeting is a good opportunity for it to announce inside and out its policy direction or an evaluation on the businesses it has carried out,” South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokesperson Lee Sang-min said at a press briefing.

The North Korean Parliament, which tends to automatically approve decisions made by leader Kim Jong-un, and the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea are set to meet in Pyongyang on Thursday, reports Efe news.

This is the second meeting of the current Parliament after the 687 members were elected in March, with an inaugural session being held in April.

“In the past SPA session, North Korea has sent an external message regarding the North-US relations. We will keep a close watch on the meeting considering these past situations,” the South Korean spokesperson added.

A session of the SPA is generally held once a year and is mainly aimed at approving budget allocations, with a second meeting within the year being quite rare.
Since Kim came to power in late 2001, Pyongyang has held SPA sessions twice a year on just two occasions, 2012 and 2014.

–IANS
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