Cabinet of North Korea

The cabinet, headed by Kim Il-sung, visiting Moscow in 1949

In North Korea's first constitution, adopted in 1948, the executive powers were vested in the Cabinet, chaired by Kim Il-sung himself.

The 1972 constitution saw the establishment of the post of President of North Korea which led the executive branch, and the cabinet was split into two organizations: The Central People's Committee and the State Administration Council. The Central People's Committee provided the highest visible institutional link between the government and the party and served in effect as a de-facto super-cabinet. According to the 1972 constitution, the Central People's Committee exercised various functions and powers such as shaping the internal and external policies of the state, direct the work of the Administration Council and provincial people's committee, supervising the execution of the constitution, laws and ordinances of the Supreme People's Assembly, establish or abolish ministries, executive bodies of the Administration Council and appoint or remove vice premiers, ministers and other members of the Administration Council and also to declare a state of war and enacting mobilization orders in case of emergency. Article 104 gave the authority to the CPC to adopt decrees and decisions and issue directives.[3]

The National Defence Commission was then sub-committee of this body.[4] The CPC's formal powers were all-inclusive and it was chaired by the President.[5] Among its responsibilities are formulating domestic and foreign policies, directing the work of the State Administration Council and its local organs, directing the judiciary, ensuring the enforcement of the constitution and other laws, appointing or removing the vice premiers and cabinet members, establishing or changing administrative subdivisions or their boundaries, and ratifying or abolishing treaties signed with foreign countries. The CPC also may issue decrees, decisions, and instructions. The State Administration Council was guided by the CPC and was led by a premier (chong-ri) and included vice premiers (bochong-ri), ministers (boojang), committee chairmen, and other cabinet-level members of central agencies. It was responsible for the formulation of state economic development plans and measures for implementing them, the preparation of the state budget, and the handling of other monetary and fiscal matters.[6]

1982 saw the People's Armed Forces and Public Security Ministries assigned directly to the President together with the State Inspection Commission.

In 1990, by a CPC decision, the NDC became fully independent from it as a separate institution, and 1992 constitutional amendments assigned it directly to the Supreme People's Assembly. In 1998 amendments to the Constitution, the Central People's Committee and the State Administration were abolished, and the Cabinet was re-created. Thus, the Cabinet is not only the highest executive enforcement organ but was also expanded to become the general State management organ.

Emphasizing its expanded role, on January 1999 Kim Jong-il stated that

"The party organizations and party cadres should not intervene in administrative matters. The party should help the cabinet to be responsible for all economic affairs. Last year we made a new governmental system where the cabinet is supposed to be the control tower of the economy...No organizational unit should handle economic problems without consulting the cabinet".[7]

The cabinet is appointed and accountable to the Supreme People's Assembly, the North Korean unicameral parliament. The SPA chooses the Premier of North Korea who appoints three vice premiers and the cabinet's ministers. All members of the cabinet are members of the Workers' Party of Korea which rules the country since its establishment in 1948. While the SPA is not in session, the cabinet is accountable to the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly.[11]

As of 2000, some 260 people have served as cabinet ministers. Six of them have been women:[12] Ho Jong-suk (Minister of Culture, Justice), Pak Chong-ae (Agriculture), Yi Yang-suk (Commerce, Textile and Paper Industries), Pak Yong-sin (Culture), Yi Ho-hyok (Foodstuff and Daily Necessities Industries), and Yu Gi-jong (Finance).[13]

The Cabinet, as the executive branch of the North Korean state, is responsible for implementing the state's economic policies, as guided by the Workers' Party. The cabinet is not responsible for defense and security issues, as those are handled by the State Affairs Commission. Thus, the security organizations such as the Korean People's Army, Ministry of Social Security and State Security Department report and subordinated directly to the SAC, whose Chairman holds full power as the supreme leader of the republic and the party and overall commander-in-chief of all uniformed forces. The Cabinet convenes a plenary meeting and an executive meeting.[14] The plenary meeting consists of all the Cabinet members, while the executive meeting is kind of a presidium, and comprises fewer people, including the Premier, vice premier and other Cabinet members whom the Premier nominates. The cabinet forms acts in the form of decisions and directives. In the performance of its mandate the Cabinet is empowered by the Constitution to:[15]

• adopt measures to execute state policy.
• institute, amend, and supplement regulations concerning state management based on the Constitution and ministerial laws.
• guide the work of the Cabinet commissions, ministries, direct ministries and subordinate agencies of the Cabinet and the local people’s committees
• set up and remove direct ministries and agencies, main administrative economic organizations, and enterprises, and adopt measures to improve the State management structure.
• draft the State plan for the development of the national economy and adopt measures to put it into effect.
• compile the State budget and adopt measures to implement it.
• organize and exercise works in the fields of industry, agriculture, construction, transportation, communications, commerce, trade, land management, city management, education, science, culture, health, physical training, labor administration, environmental protection, tourism and others.
• adopt measures to strengthen the monetary and banking system.
• do inspection and control work to establish a state management order.
• adopt measures to maintain social order, protect State and social cooperation body’s possession and interests, and to guarantee citizens’ rights.
• conclude treaties with foreign countries, and conduct external activities.
• abolish decisions and directions by economic administrative organs, which run counter to the decisions or directions made by its members.

Those Cabinet ministries that oversee economic sectors also control groups of industries called "complexes". These complexes consist of partially or fully state-owned industrial facilities like factories, mines, or farms, depending on the sector.[16] At a local level, the Cabinet supervises the Local People's Committees.

As of 17 January 2021, the Cabinet consists of the following:[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]

Minister		Political party		Position
	Kim Tok-hun		Workers' Party of Korea	Premier
	Pak Jong-gun		Workers' Party of Korea	Vice Premier Chairman of the State Planning Commission
	Jon Hyon-chol		Workers' Party of Korea	Vice Premier
	Kim Song-ryong		Workers' Party of Korea	Vice Premier
	Ri Song-hak		Workers' Party of Korea	Vice Premier
	Pak Hun		Workers' Party of Korea	Vice Premier
	Ju Chol-gyu		Workers' Party of Korea	Vice Premier Minister of Agriculture
	Kim Kum-chol		Workers' Party of Korea	Secretary-General
	Ri Son-gwon		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Foreign Affairs
	Kim Yu-il		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Electric Power Industry
	Jon Hak-chol		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Coal Industry
	Kim Chung-gol		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Metallurgical Industry
	Ma Jong-son		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Chemical Industry
	Jang Chung-song		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Railways
	Kang Jong-gwan		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Land and Maritime Transportation
	Kim Chol-su		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Mining Industry
	Kim Chung-song		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of State Natural Resources Development
	Ko Kil-son		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Oil Industry
	Han Ryong-guk		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Forestry
	Yang Sung-ho		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Machine-Building Industry
	Kang Chol-gu		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Shipbuilding
	Wang Chang-uk		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Nuclear Power Industry
	Kim Jae-song			Minister of Electronics Industry
	Ju Yong-il		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Posts and Telecommunications
	So Jong-jin		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Construction and Building-Materials Industry
	Ri Hyok-gwon		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of State Construction Control
	Jang Kyong-il		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Light Industry
	Jo Yong-chol		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Local Industry
	Ri Kang-son			Minister of Consumer Goods Industry
	Song Chun-sop		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Fisheries
	Ko Jong-bom		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Finance
	Jin Kum-song		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Labor
	Yun Jong-ho		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of External Economic Relations
	Ri Chung-gil		Workers' Party of Korea	Chairman of State Commission of Science and Technology
	Kim Sung-jin		Workers' Party of Korea	President of the Academy of Sciences of North Korea
	Kim Kyong-jun		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Land and Environment Protection Director of the Supervisory Bureau of Forestry Policy of the State Affairs Commission
	Im Kyong-jae		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Urban Management
	Mun Ung-jo			Minister of Food Procurement and Administration
	Pak Hyok-chol		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Commerce
	Kim Sung-du		Workers' Party of Korea	Chairman of the Education Commission
	Ri Kuk-chol		Workers' Party of Korea	President of Kim Il-sung University Minister of Higher Education
	Choe Kyong-chol		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Public Health
	Sung Jong-gyu		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Culture
	Kim Il-guk		Workers' Party of Korea	Minister of Physical Culture and Sports
	Choe Song-hak		Workers' Party of Korea	President of the Central Bank
	Ri Chol-san		Workers' Party of Korea	Director of the Central Statistics Bureau

• Politics of North Korea
• State Council of South Korea

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cabinet of North Korea.

• Minju Choson, the official newspaper of the Cabinet (in Korean)