Seoul, June 9 (IANS/EFE): North Korea will hold local elections in July, state-owned KCNA agency reported on Tuesday.

These will be the first elections of this type in the country since Kim Jong-un assumed power in 2011.

The elections are held every four years to send representatives to the local assemblies.

Voter turnout in local elections in North Korea is usually hundred percent and only candidates selected by the official Workers Party are seen elected, with an absolute majority, due to which the process is considered to be a mere formality.

According to experts at Pyongyang, the legislators elected to these assemblies meet once or twice a year to pass budgets and draw plans for application of laws in their respective provinces.

The number of seats allocated to a province is directly proportionate to its population.

The last elections were held in July 2011 under Kim Jong-il, who died in December the same year.

In the last elections, 28,000 representatives from across the country were elected to people's assemblies.