Pyongyang: North Korea has been accelerating its preparations for next week's parliamentary elections by establishing election committees at multiple levels and reviewing the qualifications of candidates for deputies to the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), according to state media Wednesday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, North Korea is set to elect deputies to the 15th SPA on Sunday, following last month's key party congress. The country typically holds parliamentary elections every five years, with the upcoming vote marking the first since 2019.

North Korea has announced the formation of election committees at the provincial, city, county, and military levels nationwide to facilitate the upcoming elections, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The North appears to be conducting a process similar to a primary to select a single candidate in each constituency, with meetings being held to review the qualifications of deputy candidates across the nation. "Officials who have earned high public trust, workers, farmers and people from all walks of life, as well as soldiers, have been registering as candidates for assembly deputies," the KCNA stated.

North Korea has confirmed that all residents with the right to vote in each constituency have been registered on a voters' list. Voters are required to place the ballot in the box if they approve of a candidate, while they must draw a line through the candidate's name if they oppose, a process that effectively renders the voting non-secret.

The SPA is described as the highest organ of state power under North Korea's constitution, though it primarily serves to rubber-stamp decisions made by the ruling Workers' Party.