General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea

The General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (Korean: 조선로동당 총비서) is the head of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), the single-largest and ruling party in North Korea. It is the first priority political position of Supreme Leader.[1]

General Secretary of the
Workers' Party of Korea
조선로동당 총비서
Logo of the Workers' Party of Korea
Flag of the Workers' Party of Korea
Incumbent
Kim Jong-un

since 10 January 2021
Workers' Party of Korea
TypeParty leader
Supreme leader
ResidenceForbidden City
SeatPyongyang
NominatorWPK Congress
AppointerWPK Congress
Term lengthNo fixed term
Constituting instrumentWPK Charter
Inaugural holderKim Tu-bong
Formation28 August 1946
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea
Hangul
조선로동당 총비서
Hanja
Revised RomanizationJoseon Rodongdang Wiwonjang
McCune–ReischauerChosŏn Rodongdang Wiwonjang

The Charter of the Workers’ Party of Korea states the WPK General Secretary is the supreme leader of the WPK. The Party Congress nominates and elects the WPK General Secretary. The Party Conference is also able to nominate and elect the WPK General Secretary. The WPK General Secretary serves as the ex officio Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea. In practice, the WPK General Secretary is also a member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau and the head of the Secretariat.

The current General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea is Kim Jong-un, who took office on 10 January 2021.

History

The position was first established as the Chief Secretary of the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea (Korean: 조선공산당 북조선분국 책임비서) on 13 October 1945 during the conference of Communist Party of Korea members in northern Korea. Kim Yong-bom was elected as the first chief secretary. He was succeeded by Kim Il-sung, who was elected as chief secretary on 18 December 1945 at the third enlarged executive committee meeting of the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea.

On 28 August 1946, the North Korean Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea and the New People’s Party of Korea were merged to form the Workers’ Party of North Korea during its 1st Congress. The position of Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of North Korea (Korean: 북조선로동당 중앙위원회 위원장) was also created to lead the new party. Kim Tu-bong, the chairman of the New People’s Party of Korea, was elected as the chairman and was re-elected in March 1948 during the 2nd Congress.

On 30 June 1949, the Workers’ Party of North Korea and the Workers’ Party of South Korea merged to form the Workers’ Party of Korea. The position of Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (Korean: 조선로동당 중앙위원회 위원장) was also created. Kim Il-sung was elected as chairman; he had been North Korea's de facto leader since its formation in 1948. Kim was re-elected in April 1956 during the 3rd WPK Congress and in September 1961 during the 4th WPK Congress.

On 12 October 1966, the position of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (Korean: 조선로동당 중앙위원회 총비서) was created at the 14th plenary meeting of the 4th WPK Central Committee. Kim Il-sung was elected by the meeting as general secretary and was re-elected in November 1970 at the 5th WPK Congress and in October 1980 at the 6th WPK Congress.

Kim Il-sung held the position of general secretary until his death on 8 July 1994. Following this, the post was left vacant until 1997.

From late September until early October 1997, conferences of various WPK organizations were held to recommend the election of Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-sung's son and designated successor, as general secretary. At that point, Kim Jong-il held the party positions of Political Bureau Presidium member and WPK central committee secretary.

On 8 October 1997, the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission issued a special communique stating that Kim Jong-il was elected to the position of General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (Korean: 조선로동당 총비서).

On 28 September 2010, Kim Jong-il was re-elected as WPK general secretary at the 3rd WPK Conference. The conference also amended the Charter of the Workers’ Party of Korea to state that the WPK general secretary is the ex officio Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

Kim Jong-il died on 17 December 2011 and the position of general secretary was left vacant.

The WPK held its 4th Conference on 11 April 2012. It declared Kim Jong-il as the eternal General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (Korean: 영원한 조선로동당 총비서). The WPK Charter was revised to create the First Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (Korean: 조선로동당 제1비서) as the new highest party position.

Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il's son and designated successor, was elected as first secretary on 11 April 2012 during the 4th WPK Conference. Prior to his election as WPK first secretary, Kim Jong-un held the party positions of Central Military Commission vice chairman and Central Committee member.

On 9 May 2016, the 7th WPK Congress created the Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea as the new highest party position. Kim Jong-un was elected by the congress as the WPK chairman.

Office holders

Chief Secretary of the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea
조선공산당 북조선분국 책임비서
Chief Secretary Term Election
Kim Yong-bom
김용범
1902–1947
13 October 1945 18 December 1945
Kim Il-sung
김일성
1912–1994


18 December 1945 31 August 1946
Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea
북조선로동당 중앙위원회 위원장
Chairman Term Election
Kim Tu-bong
김두봉
1889–1958
31 August 1946 30 March 1948 1st
Central
Committee
30 March 1948 30 June 1949 2nd
Central
Committee
Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
조선로동당 중앙위원회 위원장
Chairman Term Election
Kim Il-sung
김일성
1912–1994
30 June 1949 29 April 1956 2nd
Central
Committee
29 April 1956 18 September 1961 3rd
Central
Committee
18 September 1961 12 October 1966 4th
Central
Committee
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
조선로동당 중앙위원회 총비서
General Secretary Term Election
Kim Il-sung
김일성
1912–1994
12 October 1966 13 November 1970 4th
Central
Committee
13 November 1970 14 October 1980 5th
Central
Committee
14 October 1980 8 July 1994 6th
Central
Committee
Vacant
(8 July 1994–8 October 1997)
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea
조선로동당 총비서
General Secretary Term Election
Kim Jong-il
김정일
1941–2011
8 October 1997 28 September 2010 6th
Central
Committee
28 September 2010 17 December 2011
Vacant
(17 December 2011–11 April 2012)
First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea
조선로동당 제1비서
First Secretary Term Election
Kim Jong-un
김정은
born 1983
11 April 2012 9 May 2016 6th
Central
Committee
Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea
조선로동당 위원장
Chairman Term Election
Kim Jong-un
김정은
born 1983
9 May 2016 10 January 2021 7th
Central
Committee
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea
조선로동당 총비서
General Secretary Term Election
Kim Jong-un
김정은
born 1983
10 January 2021 Present 8th
Central
Committee

Secretaries

Secretaries of the party are: Kim Jong-un (General Secretary), Jo Yong-won, Pak Thae-song, Ri Pyong-chol, Jong Sang-hak, Ri Il-hwan, Kim Tu-il, Choe Sang-gon

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. "Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un Cuts Tape for Completion of Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory". Kim Il-sung University. Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). 2 May 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020. Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, attended the ceremony.

Articles, books and journal entries

Books

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