The Personal Model

Abstract

This chapter focuses on seven constitutional amendments in North Korea under Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un’s rule. The Suryong (supreme leaders) system informs and legitimizes the process and substance of constitutional change in North Korea, the experience characterized here as the personal model of socialist constitutional change. The change of Suryong normally induces constitutional change. The Constitution was, also, amended to incorporate Suryong’s new ideas and guidance. Procedurally, the constitutional amendments are formally approved by the legislature with a two-third majority vote, but amendment approval is effectively controlled by a Suryong. Substantively, constitutional change in North Korea improves the Suryong-Dominant Party-State System to facilitate the government’s role in improving the material wellbeing of living conditions. The need to improve the material wellbeing generates new ideas about socio-economic development, the institutional adjustment to facilitate effective management of the economy and the society at large, and empowering the citizens to some extent.