The North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) convened on August 29 to revise the constitution and carry out small-scale personnel shuffles in state organs. 

The revision marks the fifth under Kim Jong Un, after 2012, 2013, 2016, and April 2019. Kim Jong Il’s powers as the head of the National Defense Commission (NDC), the State Affairs Commission (SAC)’s predecessor, had been limited compared to Kim Il Sung’s powers as DPRK president. It was against this backdrop that North Korea started rebuilding Kim Jong Un’s powers as the head of state organs through the 2016 and April 2019 constitutional revisions