Meeting Set For North's Legislative Assembly

North Korea said Friday that its legislative body will hold its annual session early next month.

"The fourth session of the 10th Supreme People's Assembly will convene in Pyongyang on April 5," North's Korean Central News Agency reported.

Because North Korean leader Kim Jong-il emphasized "new thinking" earlier this year, South Korean officials said that it is likely that measures will be taken at the session to open the country up.

Officials said that the North may be willing to open the country's economy to the outside world, because Mr. Kim has taken pains to stress "the need for a new perspective that is in accordance with a new generation." Analysts link this policy with his surprise visit to China two months ago.

Analysts said the China visit showed Mr. Kim's willingness to see how the Chinese Communist Party managed to begin moving its planned economy toward a market-oriented one and maintain its power at the same time.

Saying that the annual session will serve as a means to understand the pace of reform in the North, the South's Unification Ministry officials will pay close attention to changes in government posts.

"It is highly likely that they will replace some older officials and officials suffering from illness," said a senior government official. "The scope of the change is likely to be large."

Last year, the North replaced a number of older officials in its financial sector with younger bureaucrats.

Lee Jong-seok, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute, said that although it is the first session of the assembly since the new U.S. administration took office, "It is unlikely that the North will unveil any policy or specific position it has on the United States."

by Lee Young-jong