For the de facto leader of North Korea, see Supreme Leader (North Korean title).
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Congress (8th)
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 North Koreaportal |
The following is a list of heads of state of North Korea since its foundation in 1948.
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| North Koreaportal |
The following is a list of heads of state of North Korea since its foundation in 1948.
For most of its existence, North Korea has not specified a formal head of state. The 1948 constitution did not define a head of state, but with regard to political functions usually performed by the head of state, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) could be considered one. Kim Il Sung was, at the time, as Premier, merely the head of government but not of state. As his position grew more stable, he wanted to be recognized as the head of state instead. Foreign admirers first started calling him such, and in the 1972 constitution his position was formalized as the President of the republic. [1]
After Kim Il Sung died in 1994, the presidency and hence the position of head of state was left vacant. While the late leader was titled the Eternal President of North Korea, the actual office of the President was written out of the constitution in 1998 making the head of state undefined again. His son and successor, Kim Jong Il, kept official titles given to him by the late president and never formally became the head of state. During this period, the president of the presidium of the SPA exercised many of the functions normally granted to a head of state, such as receiving ambassadors. Titles used by Kim Jong Un have constitutionally defined him as the Supreme Leader, but not formal head of state. [1] [2] However, amendments to the DPRK constitution in 2019 have granted the chairman of the State Affairs Commission (later renamed to president of the State Affairs), a title held by Kim, the status of representing the state and receiving and appointing ambassadors, effectively making him the head of state. [3]
| Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Political party | Election | Supreme leader | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
| Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly | ||||||||
 | Kim Tu-bong 김두봉 (1889–1958) | 9 September 1948 | 20 September 1957 | 9 years, 11 days | Workers' Party of North Korea | 1st SPA | Kim Il Sung | |
| Workers' Party of Korea | ||||||||
 | Choe Yong-gon 최용건 (1900–1976) | 20 September 1957 | 28 December 1972 | 15 years, 99 days | Korean Social Democratic Party | 2nd SPA 3rd SPA 4th SPA | ||
| Workers' Party of Korea | ||||||||
| President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea | ||||||||
 | Kim Il Sung 김일성 (1912–1994) | 28 December 1972 | 8 July 1994 † | 21 years, 192 days | Workers' Party of Korea | 5th SPA 6th SPA 7th SPA 8th SPA 9th SPA | Himself | |
| Vacant (8 July 1994–5 September 1998) Yang Hyong-sop as Chairman of the SPA Standing Committee Kim Jong Il as supreme leader | ||||||||
| President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly | ||||||||
 | Kim Yong-nam 김영남 (born 1928) | 5 September 1998 | 11 April 2019 | 20 years, 218 days | Workers' Party of Korea | 10th SPA 11th SPA 12th SPA 13th SPA | Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Un | |
| President of the State Affairs Commission | ||||||||
 | Kim Jong Un 김정은 (born 1984) | 11 April 2019 | Incumbent | 5 years, 188 days | Workers' Party of Korea | 14th SPA | Himself | |
The politics of North Korea takes place within the framework of the official state philosophy, Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism. Juche, which is a part of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, is the belief that only through self-reliance and a strong independent state, can true socialism be achieved.
Kim Jong Il was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea. He led North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his death in 2011, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Un. Afterwards, Kim Jong Il was declared Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
Pak Pong-ju is a North Korean politician who served as the Premier of North Korea from 2003 to 2007 and again from 2013 to 2019. He was elected a member of the Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 2016.
Kim Jong Chul, sometimes spelled Kim Jong Chol, is a son of former North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Il. His younger brother is current Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. His older half-brother Kim Jong-nam was assassinated in February 2017.
The Supreme People's Assembly is the legislature of North Korea. It is ostensibly the highest organ of state power and the only branch of government in North Korea, with all state organs subservient to it under the principle of unified power. However, in practice it is a rubber stamp legislature which exists to approve decisions made by the ruling party as a formality, and which has little to no real power of its own.
The premier of North Korea, officially titled the premier of the Cabinet of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is the head of government of North Korea and leader of the North Korean Cabinet.
The Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the constitution of North Korea. It was approved by the 6th Supreme People's Assembly at its first session on 27 December 1972, and has been amended and supplemented in 1998, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019 (twice), 2023 and 2024. It replaced the country's first constitution which was approved in 1948.
In the North Korean government, the Cabinet is the administrative and executive body. The North Korean government consists of three branches: administrative, legislative, and judicial. However, they are not independent of each other, but all branches are under the exclusive political leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
Kim Jong Un is a North Korean politician who has been supreme leader of North Korea since December 2011 and the general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim Jong Il, who was the second supreme leader of North Korea, and a grandson of Kim Il Sung, the founder and first supreme leader of the country.
The eternal leaders of North Korea are mentions of deceased leaders of North Korea. The phrase was mentioned in a line of the preamble to the Constitution, as amended on 30 June 2016, and in subsequent revisions.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the commander-in-chief of the Korean People's Army, the military of North Korea. The office was established on 4 July 1950 and abolished with the passing of a new constitution in 1972. Since then, the office of President of North Korea, the Chairman of the National Defence Commission and the President of the State Affairs Commission have been referred to as supreme commanders in accordance with the constitution.
The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, formerly the Kumsusan Memorial Palace (금수산기념궁전), is a building near the northeast corner of the city of Pyongyang that serves as the mausoleum for Kim Il Sung, first Supreme Leader and founder of North Korea, and for his son Kim Jong Il, both posthumously designated as the Eternal leaders of North Korea.
The President of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, alternatively styled "President of State Affairs" in official translations, is the supreme leader and head of state of North Korea. The president chairs the State Affairs Commission (SAC), which is the highest leadership institution in North Korea, and serves as the commander-in-chief of the North Korean armed forces.
Yang Hyong-sop was a North Korean politician who served as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly from 1983 to 1998. He subsequently served as Vice President of the Presidium of the SPA from 1998 to 2019.
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is the oldest active party in Korea. It also controls the Korean People's Army, North Korea's armed forces. The WPK is the largest party represented in the Supreme People's Assembly and coexists with two other legal parties that are completely subservient to the WPK and must accept the WPK's "leading role" as a condition of their existence. The WPK is banned in the Republic of Korea under the National Security Act and is sanctioned by the United Nations, the European Union, Australia, and the United States.
The title of supreme leader of North Korea generally refers to the de facto hereditary leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea, the state and the Korean People's Army. Each individual North Korean leader have assumed different offices and positions, and different titles were used in North Korean propaganda that could be translated from Korean as "Great Leader", "Dear Leader", or "Supreme Leader". For full list of titles used, see the lists of titles of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un.
Choe Ryong-hae is a North Korean politician and military officer who currently serves as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and First Vice President of the State Affairs Commission, holding both positions since April 2019. Due to holding the first office, he was considered the head of state of North Korea before the country's constitution was amended to transfer this position to the President of the State Affairs Commission, Kim Jong Un. He is also a member of the Presidium of the Politburo and Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). He also served as Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un's military second-in-command, currently being third top-ranking official in North Korea after Kim Jong Un and premier Kim Tok-hun.
The chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, formerly known as the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, which is the permanent body of the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's highest organ of state power.
The State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (SAC) is constitutionally the supreme political authority of North Korea. The State Affairs Commission was created by 2016 amendments to the North Korean Constitution to replace the previously military-dominated National Defence Commission.
The president of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was the head of state of North Korea from 1972 to 1998. The position was only occupied by Kim Il Sung from 1972 until his death in 1994. Aside from being president, Kim was also the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the National Defence Commission and Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army.
| Chairmen of the Standing Committee |
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|---|---|---|
| President of the Republic |
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| President of the Presidium |
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| Chairman of National Defence |
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| President of State Affairs |
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