1948~2019년 북한의 사회복지 정책 변동에 대한 소고: 북한헌법을 중심으로

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The purpose of this study is to identify policy changes by tracking social welfare-related clauses in North Korea's constitution. To achieve this, this research reviews the North Korean Constitution, which has been amended ten times since the establishment of the North Korean regime in 1948. The constitution is analyzed by the literature review method.
 North Korea's position on social welfare changed significantly only between the first constitution of 1948 and the second constitution of 1972, but there was no significant change after that. Based on this fact, this paper is focused on the reason why North Korea hasn’t changed their social welfare policy for about 50 years and what the rationale is, and the background for it. In this paper, four reasons are considered. First, it is due to the basic nature of North Korea's concept of welfare, and the limitations rooted in the blind belief that their social welfare system is superior and complete. Second, expansion of the social welfare system in the constitution would imply acceptance that there is a flaw in their current constitution. However, ratifying an amendment would require acknowledgment of such a flaw by the North Korea regime itself, which they are unwilling to give.
 Third, extending from the second reason, the social welfare system is especially considered to be an achievement of the North Korean supreme leader, and changing the social welfare policy could be considered contradictory to the perception of the success of these policies. Fourth, as an extension of the third reason, North Korea’s constitution can only be changed by the leader or under the leader’s permission. It is therefore the leader's sole right to change or expand the social welfare system in the constitution. Because of these reasons, North Korea has not been able to change the social welfare system in the constitution in the years since 1972.