1st Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea

The 1st Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea was elected by the 1st Congress on 30 August 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of North Korea and the New People's Party of Korea,[1] and remained in session until the election of the 2nd Central Committee on 30 March 1948.[2] In between party congresses and specially convened conferences the Central Committee is the highest decision-making institution in the party and North Korea.[3] The Central Committee is not a permanent institution and delegates day-to-day work to elected bodies, such as the Political Committee, the Standing Committee and the Organisation Committee (membership not disclosed) in the case of the 1st Central Committee.[4][5] It convenes meetings, known as "Plenary Session of the [term] Central Committee", to discuss major policies.[6] A plenary session can be attended by non-members.[6] These meetings are known as "Enlarged Plenary Session".[6] The party rules approved at the 1st Congress stipulated that the Central Committee needed to convene for a plenary session every third month.[7] In total the 1st Central Committee convened for twelve plenary sessions.[6] Of those twelve, eighth plenary sessions were convened in 1947.[7]

1st Central Committee
Emblem of the Workers' Party of North Korea
30 August 1946 – 30 March 1948 (1 year, 213 days)
Overview
Decision making body	Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea
Election	1st Congress (1946)
Full members	43
Officers of the Central Committee
Chairman	Kim Tu-bong
Vice Chairmen	Kim Il-sung Chu Yong-ha
Political Committee	5 members
Standing Committee	13 members

Forty-three members were elected to the 1st Central Committee, of which thirty-one were re-elected at the 2nd Congress.[8] Its members convened for the 1st Plenary Session on 31 August 1946, and elected the 1st Organisation Committee, 1st Standing Committee and its Political Committee, and elected the WPNK Chairman and two vice chairs.[9] Kim Tu-bong was elected as Chairman while Kim Il-sung and Chu Yong-ha were elected vice chairmen.[9] Despite their formal roles, real powers remained in Kim Il-sung's hands and Kim Tu-bong played a more ceremonial role due to his unwillingness to partake in the day-to-day management of party affairs.[9] In the 1st Plenary Session's aftermath the party began establishing state structures known as provisional people's committees throughout the country, and in 1947 national elections to the People's Assembly were organised.[10] At its first plenary session, the assembly elected a Presidium and elected Kim Tu-bong as its chairman, and appointed the People's Committee (the government) and elected Kim Il-sung as its chairman.[11] Of 22 government members, 16 were members of the WPNK.[11]

A feature of North Korean politics was its factionalism.[12] Four loosely defined factions had taken shape by this time; Kim Il-sung's partisans, domestic communists, the Yanan group and the Soviet Koreans.[note 1][12] The partisans, comprised soldiers who had fought Japanese rule with Kim Il-sung, lacked both theoretical and organisational experience to take leading party offices.[12] They were therefore poorly represented in the 1st Central Committee.[12] The domestic faction, composed of indigenous communists and leading members of the Workers' Party of South Korea, were underrepresented due to their underground activities in South Korea.[12] While the Yanan faction, Korean revolutionaries based in China, had most representation on the committee.[12] The Soviet Koreans, composed of Koreans who were either Soviet-born or lived there during Japanese rule, also had significant representation.[12] The conflict between these factions would intensify over the years, with Soviet Korean Yu Song-gol stating that he "as early as 1947 [...] overhead how former partisans not only mentioned the [Yanans] and 'Soviets' with a great deal of animosity but also expressed the desire to be rid of them in due course."[14] These factional conflicts were rarely based on policy differences, but rather personal interests and the struggle for power.[15] Scholar Andrey Lankov notes that "at least 28 members" of the 1st Central Committee "became victims of Kim Il-sung's purges. The real number was probably even higher since in many cases purges were not made public."[12]

A conflict between Kim Il-sung's partisan faction and Pak Hon-yong's domestic faction had been brewing since the North Korean Branch Bureau's formation in October 1945.[15] The leading domestic communist in the North O Ki-sop was accused of making "leftist and rightist errors" at the 3rd Enlarged Plenary Session.[16] Vice Chairman Chu Yong-ha further elaborated on the criticism, and claimed that "O had attempted to apply labour union principles under capitalism to the socialist setting of North Korea, thereby deliberately inciting unthinking workers."[16] O Ki-sop defended himself by citing the works of Vladimir Lenin, and claimed that "[if I am such] a pain in the neck then why not just pin the label of Trotskyite on [me]?"[17] While Pak Il-u supposedly rose in his defence and called for a committee to study the Lenin work in question, Kim Il-sung stated that no such committee was necessary due to O Ki-sop's past mistakes.[17] The criticism of O Ki-sop and the attacks on the indigenous North Korean communist movement, that had remained active in Korea during Japanese colonialism, was supported by the partisans, Soviet Koreans and the Yanans.[17]

Plenary sessions

Plenum	Start–end	Length	Agenda
1st Plenary Session	31 August 1946	1 day	1 item. Elections of the officers and apparatus heads of the 1st Central Committee.
2nd Enlarged Plenary Session	25 September 1946	1 day	1 item. Report by Kim Il-sung on the election to the People's Committee.
3rd Enlarged Plenary Session	25 November 1946	1 day	3 items. Debate on the party's present tasks. Debate on the elections held on 3 November. Concerning the strengthening of the party's organisation and political educational projects.
4th Enlarged Plenary Session	2 February 1947	1 day	1 item. Debate on the election of the people's committees at the myon and ri administrative levels.
5th Plenary Session	Not made public.	Not made public.	Not made public.
6th Enlarged Plenary Session	15 March 1947	1 day	3 items. Report by Kim Il-sung on arty work to realise economic reconstruction and development. Debate on the party's duty to strengthen the people's rights. Report concerning the grave errors of some party organisations in some party projects.
7th Enlarged Plenary Session	16 June 1947	1 day	3 items. Debate on participating in and cooperating with the US–Soviet Joint Commission on Korea on establishing an interim Korean government. Election of a representative to the US–Soviet Joint Commission. Kim Il-sung was elected the Representative to the US–Soviet Joint Commission Election of an ad hoc committee to respond to the US–Soviet Joint Commission's questionnaires.
8th Plenary Session	1 July 1947	1 day	2 items. Debate on the US–Soviet Joint Commission on Korea resolutions. Approving the reply on Article 5 and Article 6 in the "Organizations of the Interim Government" of the US–Soviet Joint Commission.
9th Plenary Session	Not made public.	Not made public.	Not made public.
10th Plenary Session	13 September 1947	1 day	1 item. Discussion on the role of the party leadership in projects of the mass organisations.
11th Plenary Session	23 December 1947	1 day	5 items. On projects concerning every party leading organ. Discussion on the gathering of the 2nd Congress. Election of a bylaw draft committee to amend the party platform and rules. Concerning the policy of realising the first and fourth periods of the 1948 economic plan. Concerning organisational problems.
12th Plenary Session	9 February 1948	3 days	3 items. Report by Kim Il-sung on every party organisation's responsibility to realise the 1948 economic plan. Debate on the draft of the interim constitution of Korea. Debate on postponing the 2nd Congress.

Members

Rank	Name	Hangul	Level of government	2nd CC	Inner-composition		Faction
					1st POC	1st STC
1	Kim Tu-bong	김두봉	Central Chairman of the WPNK Central Committee Vice Chairman of the People's Committee Chairman of the Provisional Constitution Commission of the People's Committee	Reelected	Chairman	Chairman	Yanan
2	Kim Il-sung	김일성	Central Vice Chairman of the WPNK Central Committee Chairman of the People's Committee	Reelected	V. Chairman	V. Chairman	Partisan
3	Chu Yong-ha	주영하	Central Vice Chairman of the WPNK Central Committee	Reelected	V. Chairman	V. Chairman	Domestic
4	Choe Chang-ik	최창익	—	Reelected	Member	Member	Yanan
5	Ho Ka-i	허가이	Central Chairman of the WPNK Organisation Committee	Reelected	Member	Member	Soviet
6	Kim Chang-man	김창만	—	Demoted	—	Member	Yanan
7	Ho Chong-suk	허정숙	—	Reelected	—	—	Yanan
8	Kim Yong-tae	김용태	—	Demoted	—	—	Domestic
9	Pak Chang-sik	박창식	—	Reelected	—	Member	Soviet
10	Pak Chong-ae	박정애	—	Reelected	—	Member	Domestic
11	Kim Chaek	김책	—	Reelected	—	Member	Partisan
12	Mu Chuong	무정	Military Chief of Artillery at the Officer Training School	Reelected	—	—	Yanan
13	Yi Chun-am	이춘암	—	Demoted	—	—	—
14	An Kil	안킬	—	Demoted	—	—	Soviet
15	Kim Ye-pil	김예필	—	Demoted	—	—	—
16	Kim Il	김일	Military Chairman of the North Pyongan Provincial Committee	Reelected	—	Member	Partisan
17	Pak Hyo-sam	孝 ぶば	—	Reelected	—	Member	Yanan
18	Chang Sun-myong	장선명	—	Reelected	—	—	Soviet
19	Kim Yol	김열	Provincial Chairman of the Hamgyong Provincial Committee	Reelected	—	—	Soviet
20	Kim Chae-uk	김채욱	—	Reelected	—	Member	Soviet
21	Yun Kong-hum	윤콩험	—	Demoted	—	—	Yan'an
22	Han Il-mu	한일무	Provincial Chairman of the Kangwon Provincial Committee	Reelected	—	—	Soviet
23	Tae Song-su	태성 수	Central Editor-in-chief of Kulloja	Reelected	—	—	Soviet
24	Han Sol-ya	한설야	—	Reelected	—	—	Soviet
25	Choe Kyong-dok	최경독	—	Reelected	—	—	Domestic
26	Kang Chin-gon	강진곤	—	Reelected	—	—	Domestic
27	Chang Si-u	창시우	—	Reelected	—	—	Domestic
28	Chong Tu-hyon	종투현	—	Reelected	—	—	Domestic
29	Yim To-jun	임도준	—	Demoted	—	—	—
30	Yim Hae	임해	—	Reelected	—	—	Partisan
31	O Ki-sop	오기섭	Central Head of the Propaganda Bureau of the People's Committee	Reelected	—	—	Domestic
32	Kim Uk-chin	김욱진	—	Demoted	—	—	—
33	Yi Sun-gun	이순군	Central Head of Agriculture and Forestry Department of the People's Committee	Reelected	—	—	Domestic
34	Kim Kyo-yong	김교용	—	Reelected	—	—	Partisan
35	Myong Hi-jo	명희조	—	Demoted	—	—	—
36	Han Pin	한핀	—	Demoted	—	—	—
37	Yi Chong-ik	이종익	—	Reelected	—	—	—
38	Chon Song-hwa	전송화	—	Demoted	—	—	—
39	Kim Wol-song	김월송	—	Demoted	—	—	—
40	Chang Chong-sik	장종식	Central Head of the Education Department of the People's Committee	Demoted	—	—	—
41	Kim Min-san	김민산	—	Reelected	—	—	—
42	Pak Hun-il	박헌일	—	Reelected	—	—	Yanan
43	Pak Il-u	박일우	—	Reelected	—	Member	Yanan

Noter

1. While a hallmark of early North Korean politics is factionalism, scholars Scalapino and Lee notes that "To place too much emphasis upon factional affiliation is probably a mistake, especially concerning the so-called Soviet and Yan'an factions. Defectors have often stated that the factional divisions were neither as clear-cut nor as meaningful in all cases as non-Communist sources alleged. Moreover, as a careful survey of this period reveals, increasingly the only meaningful faction was coming to be Kim Il-sung, and the crucial factor, one's personal relationship to Kim, irrespective of one's background. Nevertheless, there were differences in background, educational experience, and even culture that stemmed from the heterogeneous nature of the Korean revolutionary movement. And this did constitute a political problem, as the Korean Communists themselves readily admitted. While factionalism may not have been as important as some South Korean writers have indicated, and undoubtedly involved many more ambivalent and poorly defined factions, it remained a crucial issue in this period."[13]

References

Citations

1. Duh 1981, pp. 282–3. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDuh1981 (help)
2. Duh 1981, pp. 285–6. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDuh1981 (help)
3. Duh 1981, p. 271 & 316–7. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDuh1981 (help)
4. Duh 1981, p. 271. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDuh1981 (help)
5. Scalapino & Lee 1972, p. 357.
6. Duh 1981, p. 277. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDuh1981 (help)
7. Duh 1981, p. 276. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDuh1981 (help)
8. Duh 1981, p. 312. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDuh1981 (help)
9. Lankov 2002, p. 31.
10. Scalapino & Lee 1972, pp. 367–70.
11. Scalapino & Lee 1972, p. 371.
12. Lankov 2002, p. 82.
13. Scalapino & Lee 1972, pp. 479–80.
14. Lankov 2002, p. 88.
15. Lankov 2002, p. 89.
16. Scalapino & Lee 1972, p. 377.
17. Scalapino & Lee 1972, p. 378.

Sources

General

References for plenary sessions, apparatus heads, the Central Committee full- and candidate membership, Political Committee membership, Standing Committee membership, secretaries, Organisation Committee members, membership in the Inspection Commission, offices an individual held, retirement, if the individual in question is military personnel, female, has been expelled, is currently under investigation or has retired:

• Suh, Dae-sook (1981). Korean Communism 1945–1980: A Reference Guide to the Political System (1st ed.). University Press of Hawaii. pp. 282–5. ISBN 0-8248-0740-5. Information on the meeting dates of the plenary sessions, their official name, the meeting agenda and meeting decisions.
• Suh, Dae-sook (1981). Korean Communism 1945–1980: A Reference Guide to the Political System (1st ed.). University Press of Hawaii. pp. 316–8. ISBN 0-8248-0740-5. Information on the composition of the Central Committee and the composition of the elected bodies of the Central Committee.
• Suh, Dae-sook (1981). Korean Communism 1945–1980: A Reference Guide to the Political System (1st ed.). University Press of Hawaii. pp. 459–82. ISBN 0-8248-0740-5. A list of every minister that served in the DPRK government since its inception until 1980.
• "Organization and Role of the Provisional People's Committee of North Korea" (in Korean). National Institute of Korean History. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021. A list of cabinet members of the Provisional People's Committee.

Bibliography

• Lankov, Andrey (2002). From Stalin to Kim Il Sung: The Formation of North Korea, 1945–1960. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0813531175.
• Scalapino, Robert; Lee, Chong-sik (1972). Communism in Korea: The Movement. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520020801.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Suh, Dae-sook (1981). Korean Communism 1945–1980: A Reference Guide to the Political System (1st ed.). University Press of Hawaii. ISBN 0-8248-0740-5.