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 The National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (NDC) () was the highest state institution for military and national defence leadership in North Korea, which also served as the highest governing institution of the cou ...

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 ...

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 The President of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea () is the head of state of North Korea.Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Article 100 The president chairs the State Af ...

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. It also directly supervises the three ministries that are not under the Cabinet, namely the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of State Security and the

Ministry of Social Security Ministry of Social Security or Department of Social Security is the government entity responsible for social security affairs. It may be a ministry office, a department, or, as in the United States, a nominally independent agency. Notable ones ar ...

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 Sec ...

, mainly the

General Staff Department of the Korean People's Army The General Staff Department (GSD) of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is the senior military leadership of the armed forces of North Korea responsible for its administrative, operational and logistical needs. The current Chief of the General Staff ...

and

General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army The General Political Bureau (GPB) is the internal politburo of the Korean People's Army (KPA), used by the leadership of the North Korean government to exert political control over the military. The GPB is subordinate to the Ministry of Defence (N ...

. The Supreme Guard Command 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 State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, 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