Asia & Pacific · reference
🇰🇵 North Korea
Totalitarian one-party state under hereditary rule
SystemTotalitarian one-party state under hereditary rule
Head of stateKim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party and President of the State Affairs Commission
Head of governmentPremier Pak Thae-song
LegislatureSupreme People's Assembly · 687 seats
ElectionsSingle-candidate show elections with no choice on the ballot
Last election2026-03-15 · Supreme People's Assembly election, described by outside observers as a show election
Next election2031 · Supreme People's Assembly election due
The Kim family has ruled since 1948, and the third-generation leader has codified nuclear status in law while abandoning unification with the South as a goal. Troops and munitions sent to Russia's war in Ukraine have deepened a mutual-defence alignment with Moscow and eased the isolation of the world's most closed state. Kim's daughter Ju Ae's public prominence is widely read as succession signalling.
Live encyclopedic leader and election records · verified 2026-07-02
The Margin models elections where a competitive public record exists · all countries