ISTANBUL

North Korea held elections for the Supreme People's Assembly to select delegates to the legislature that formally ​approves state policy and appoints the country's top officials, state media reported Monday.

Nearly 99.99% of eligible voters ​cast their ballots in the election held Sunday, Korean Central News Agency reported.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cast his ballot at a polling station at the Chonsong Youth Coal Mine in elections to choose deputies for a new term of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA).

He was accompanied by key officials, including party secretaries Kim Jae-ryong and Ri Il-hwan, as well as his sister, Kim Yo-jong.

North Korea typically holds parliamentary elections every five years, but Sunday's vote marked the first in seven years, and followed up last month's key party congress.

Kim voted for Jo Chol-ho, manager of the youth coal mine and a candidate for the SPA.

Praising coal workers as the "core element of national development," Kim stressed that coal is a "driving force" of the country's self-reliant economy.

Kim served as an SPA deputy until the 13th parliamentary elections in 2014 but has not run for the SPA seat since the 14th elections in 2019, following a revision of the country's constitution.