By Chung Min-uck
North Korea held elections on Sunday, to select new deputies for the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), according to the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Observers say the results will help outsiders get a glimpse into the power shift that is taking place under the relatively-new leadership of Kim Jong-un which began in December 2011 following the death of his father and former leader Kim Jong-il.
It is the first election to be held during Kim's leadership and the results are expected to be announced later today.
The North holds an election every five years, the last in March 2009.
The SPA is a powerless puppet body controlled by the one-party dictatorship of the ruling Worker's Party and selecting of its members is largely regarded as a formality because North Korean voters can cast their ballot for only one candidate designated by the party in each of the 687 constituencies.
Kim Jong-un is also registered as a candidate for constituency 111, Mount Paekdu, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula which Pyongyang promotes as the legendary birthplace of Kim and his late father.
Who will be removed and newly-added to the ballot sheet following the execution of Kim's once-powerful uncle Jang Song-thaek in December is the central focus, experts say.
They say it is highly likely that North Korea will reorganize its power structure in a way that will eliminate pro-Jang factions from the power structure and replace them with pro-Kim aides. Such tendencies will be reflected in the results of the SPA election.
North Korea held elections on Sunday, to select new deputies for the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), according to the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Observers say the results will help outsiders get a glimpse into the power shift that is taking place under the relatively-new leadership of Kim Jong-un which began in December 2011 following the death of his father and former leader Kim Jong-il.
It is the first election to be held during Kim's leadership and the results are expected to be announced later today.
The North holds an election every five years, the last in March 2009.
The SPA is a powerless puppet body controlled by the one-party dictatorship of the ruling Worker's Party and selecting of its members is largely regarded as a formality because North Korean voters can cast their ballot for only one candidate designated by the party in each of the 687 constituencies.
Kim Jong-un is also registered as a candidate for constituency 111, Mount Paekdu, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula which Pyongyang promotes as the legendary birthplace of Kim and his late father.
Who will be removed and newly-added to the ballot sheet following the execution of Kim's once-powerful uncle Jang Song-thaek in December is the central focus, experts say.
They say it is highly likely that North Korea will reorganize its power structure in a way that will eliminate pro-Jang factions from the power structure and replace them with pro-Kim aides. Such tendencies will be reflected in the results of the SPA election.
