North Korea’s constitution requires the country to hold a Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) election every five years, and the next one is just around the corner.

The election scheduled for March 15 was initially expected to be held in 2024, five years after the 2019 election. But the ballot was pushed back to 2026, apparently to bring it into line with the now-established five-year rhythm of the Workers’ Party Congress.

This adjustment alone was striking. The elections had been postponed only twice: once after former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung launched the Korean War in 1950 and after