North Korea holds parliamentary elections

SEOUL, March 9 (UPI) -- North Korea held parliamentary elections Sunday, its first under the leadership of Kim Jong-Un.

The rubber-stamp elections chose members of the Supreme People's Assembly and will offer a glimpse of a power consolidation in Kim's government, the South Korean news agency Yonhap said Sunday.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua noted the assembly has the power to change North Korea's constitution, determine state policy and budgets and make adjustment to the national leadership. It added winning candidates will serve five-year terms.

The new Parliament will indicate who is rising and falling from Kim's favor, the New York Times said, noting North Korea uses the election as a political census to check on the whereabouts and political allegiance of voters.

In the 2009 election a single candidate ran unopposed in each of North Korea's 687 districts, and the government reported a 99.98 percent turnout.