Rodong Sinmun is a North Korean newspaper that serves as the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on 1 November 1945, as Chŏngro, serving as a communication channel for the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea. It was renamed in September 1946 to its current name upon the steady development of the Workers' Party of Korea. Quoted frequently by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and international media, it is regarded as a source of official North Korean viewpoints on many issues.
The Down-with-Imperialism Union was allegedly founded on 17 October 1926 in Hwatian County, Kirin, China, in order to fight against Japanese imperialism and to promote Marxism–Leninism. It is considered by the Workers' Party of Korea to be its root and foundation and its creation is celebrated every year.
The mass media in North Korea is amongst the most strictly controlled in the world. The constitution nominally provides for freedom of speech and the press. However, the government routinely disregards these rights, and seeks to mold information at its source. A typical example of this was the death of Kim Jong Il, news of which was not divulged until two days after it occurred. Kim Jong Un, who replaced his father as the leader, has largely followed in the footsteps of both his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, and his father. However, new technologies are being made more freely available in the country. State-run media outlets are setting up websites, while mobile phone ownership in the country has escalated rapidly. "There is no country which monopolizes and controls successfully the internet and information as North Korea does," said Kang Shin-sam, an expert on North Korean technology and co-head of the International Solidarity for Freedom of Information in North Korea, a nonprofit based in South Korea. North Korea has about four million mobile-phone subscribers circa 2022—roughly one-sixth of the population and four times the number in 2012, according to an estimate by Kim Yon-ho, a senior researcher at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.
Chung-guyok is one of the 19 guyok which constitute the city of Pyongyang, North Korea. The district is located in the center of the city, between the Pothonggang Canal and Taedong River, and is bordered to the north by Moranbong-guyok, to the northwest by Potonggang-guyok, and to the south by Pyongchon-guyok.
The Socialist Patriotic Youth League is the main North Korean youth organization. Directly under the party Central Committee, it is the only mass organization expressly mentioned in the charter of the Workers' Party of Korea. Youth under 15 may join the Young Pioneer Corps, itself a part of the larger Korean Children's Union. The organization, modeled after the Komsomol in the former Soviet Union, includes all North Koreans without party membership between the ages of 15 and 30, although married women who opt to become housewives are transferred to the Socialist Women's Union. Officially, the guiding ideology of the organization is Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism.
The Workers' Party of North Korea was a communist party in North Korea from 1946 to 1949 and was a predecessor of the current Workers' Party of Korea. It was founded at a congress on 28–30 August 1946, by the merger of the northern branch of the Communist Party of Korea and the New People's Party of Korea. Kim Tu-bong, the leader of the New People's Party, was elected chairman of the party, while Chu Yong-ha and Kim Il Sung were elected as vice chairmen. At the time of establishment, the party is believed to have had about 366,000 members organized in around 12,000 party cells.
P'yŏngch'ŏn-guyŏk is one of the 18 guyŏk of Pyongyang, North Korea. It is bordered by the Taedong River in the south and the Pothonggang Canal in the north and Potong River in the west, and to the east by Chung-guyŏk, from which it is separated by the yard area of Pyongyang railway station.
The Arch of Reunification, officially the Monument to the Three-Point Charter for National Reunification, was a sculptural arch located south of Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It was opened in August 2001 to commemorate Korean reunification proposals put forward by Kim Il Sung. Made of concrete, the arch straddled the multi-laned Reunification Highway leading from Pyongyang to the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The arch appeared on postage stamps issued in 2002, 2015, 2016, and 2021. The monument was demolished in January 2024.
Kim Kyong-hui is the aunt of current North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. She is the daughter of the founding North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and the sister of the late leader Kim Jong Il. She currently serves as Secretary for Organization of the Workers' Party of Korea. An important member of Kim Jong Il's inner circle of trusted friends and advisors, she was director of the WPK Light Industry Department from 1988 to 2012. She was married to Jang Song-thaek, who was executed in December 2013 in Pyongyang, after being charged with treason and corruption.
Kim Jong-gak is a Korean People's Army (KPA) official. He was a member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). He served as Minister of Defence briefly in 2012, and Director of the General Political Bureau of the KPA in 2018.
Minju Choson is a state-run North Korean government newspaper. It is published in Pyongyang. It was started in 1945. It is the principal newspaper of the Cabinet of North Korea and the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly.
Hyon Song-wol is a North Korean singer, band leader, and politician. She is the leader of the Moranbong Band and of the Samjiyon Orchestra. She was formerly a featured vocalist for the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble in the early 2000s, a pop group which found fame in North Korea in the late 1980s and 1990s. She has been a member in the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea since 2017.
Kim Jong Il was the Supreme Leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011.
The 7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of North Korea, was held on 6–9 May 2016.
Ri Yong-ho is a North Korean politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea from 2016 to 2020.
Kim Jong Un has been the supreme leader of North Korea since the death of Kim Jong Il in 2011.
Chongnyon Jonwi is a daily newspaper in North Korea. It is the official organ of the Central Committee of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League. It is one of the three most important newspapers in the country, the other two being Rodong Sinmun and Joson Inmingun. Chongnyon Jonwi is particularly known for jointly publishing New Year editorials with the two papers under the rule of Kim Jong Il. Most of its regular articles are commentary on the contents of Rodong Sinmun from a youth perspective. The editor-in-chief is Choe Sun-chol.
Jo Yong-won is a North Korean politician and a deputy chief of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK)'s Secretariat of General Secretary Kim Jong Un. He was a vice director of the WPK Organization and Guidance Department (OGD). Jo was also a full member of the 7th Central Committee of the WPK since it was elected at the 7th Congress of the WPK in May 2016. Jo has been a member of the Presidium of the Politburo, and a secretary of the Secretariat of the WPK since it was elected at the 8th WPK Central Committee in January 2021. Jo appears to serve as the First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea making him formally the principal day-to-day leader of the party second only to Kim Jong Un.
The 8th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) (Korean: 8차조선로동당정치국), officially the Political Bureau of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, was elected on 11 January 2021 by the 1st Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee during the 8th WPK Congress.
Kim Pyong-ho is a North Korean politician. He is a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the chief editor of the party's organ, Rodong Sinmun.
