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
Type	Party leader Supreme leader
Residence	Forbidden City
Seat	Pyongyang
Nominator	WPK Congress
Appointer	WPK Congress
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	WPK Charter
Inaugural holder	Kim Tu-bong
Formation	28 August 1946

General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea
Hangul	조선로동당 총비서
Hanja	朝鮮勞動黨總秘書
Revised Romanization	Joseon Rodongdang Wiwonjang
McCune–Reischauer	Chosŏn 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

• Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea
• Presidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea
• Secretariat of the Workers' Party of Korea

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

• Haggard, Stephen; Herman, Luke; Ryu, Jaesung (July–August 2014). "Political Change in North Korea: Mapping the Succession". Asian Survey. University of California Press. 54 (4): 773–780. doi:10.1525/as.2014.54.4.773. JSTOR 10.1525/as.2014.54.4.773.
• Kim, Nam-Sik (Spring–Summer 1982). "North Korea's Power Structure and Foreign Relations: an Analysis of the Sixth Congress of the KWP". The Journal of East Asian Affairs. Institute for National Security Strategy. 2 (1): 125–151. JSTOR 23253510.
• Staff writer (2012–2014). Understanding North Korea. Ministry of Unification.

Books

• Buzo, Adrian (1999). The Guerilla Dynasty: Politics and Leadership in North Korea. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1860644147.
• Frank, Rüdiger (2013). "North Korea in 2012: Domestic Politics, the Economy and Social Issues". Korea 2013: Politics, Economy and Society. BRILL Publishers. ISBN 9004262970.
• Gause, Ken E. (2011). North Korea Under Kim Chong-il: Power, Politics, and Prospects for Change. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 0313381755.
• — (2013). "The Role and Influence of the Party Apparatus". In Park, Kyung-ae; Snyder, Scott (eds.). North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 19–46. ISBN 1442218126.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Kim, Samuel (2000). "North Korean Informal Politics". Informal Politics in East Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521645387.
• Lankov, Andrei (2002). From Stalin to Kim Il Song: The Formation of North Korea, 1945–1960. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 1850655634.
• Lankov, Andrei (2007). Crisis in North Korea: The Failure of De-Stalinization, 1956. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0824832078.
• Suh, Dae-sook (1988). Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader (1st ed.). Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231065736.
• Yŏnʼguso, Pʻyŏnghwa Tʻongil (1997). Korea and the World. University of California. Research Center for Peace and Unification.