The State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (SAC) is defined by the 2016 constitution as "the supreme policy-oriented leadership body of State power." The current president of the SAC, which is defined by the same constitution, is the head of state of the nation.

History

The National Defence Commission was created in 1972 as per the 1972 Constitution, originally the commission's mandate was to supervise national defense matters within North Korea. Per the 4th plenary session of the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the unicameral legislature of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of the DPRK's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year ...

in June 2016 the National Defence Commission was officially replaced by the ''State Affairs Commission'', with an expanded focus towards other national concerns aside from defense and security.

Powers and responsibilities

Article 106 of the

Constitution of North Korea The Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea () is the constitution of North Korea. It was approved by the 6th Supreme People's Assembly at its first session on 27 December 1972, and has been amended and supplemented i ...

defines the State Affairs Commission as the supreme state organ of policy direction of state sovereignty. Article 109 of the Constitution states that the SAC's powers are to: *deliberate and decide on major policies of the State including defence and security policies; *exercise supervision over the fulfillment of the orders of the President of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the decisions and directives of the Commission, and take measures for their fulfillment; *abrogate decisions and directives of State organs which run counter to the orders of the President of the SAC-DPRK and the decisions and directives of the Commission in its meetings. In practice, SAC supervises the

Cabinet of North Korea The Cabinet of North Korea (''Naegak'') is, according to the Constitution of North Korea, the administrative and executive body and a general state-management organ in the Government of North Korea. The Cabinet's principal newspaper is '' Minj ...

. It also directly supervises the three ministries that are not under the Cabinet, namely the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

, Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Social Security as well as the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the '' Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General S ...

, mainly the General Staff Department of the Korean People's Army and General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army. The

Supreme Guard Command Supreme Guard Command () (also known as Unit 963, the Escort Bureau, Guard Command, Guard Bureau and the General Guard Bureau) is the personal bodyguard force tasked with the protection of North Korea's ruling Kim family. The current Supreme Gua ...

which is responsible for the top leadership and government protection is also under its command. One additional entity, the State Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission, is also under the SAC as its Chairman is appointed by the Commission.

Members

The following are the current members of the State Affairs Commission as of 29 September 2021:

List of members since 2016

The following is the list of members of the State Affairs Commission since its first election on 29 June 2016. Names in bold indicates that they are a current member of the State Affairs Commission. Names are listed in their order of election.

References

Works cited