Supreme Leader (North Korean title)

The supreme leader (Korean: 최고령도자; MR: ch'oeko ryŏngdoja) of North Korea is the de facto paramount leader of the party, state and army. The title has not been written into the national constitution as a separate office, but it currently states that the president of the State Affairs Commission is the supreme leader of North Korea. Likewise, according to the WPK Charter, the general secretary of the WPK is the supreme leader of the Workers' Party. Formerly, under Kim Jong-il, this title was bestowed on the office of Chairman of the National Defence Commission, who was also the WPK general secretary.

The first leader of the state prior to the existence of North Korea was Terenty Shtykov who served as the head of the Soviet Civil Administration, the governing authority controlled by the Soviet Union that ruled the northern half of Korea from 1945 to 1948.

General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea is the first priority political position of the supreme leader. That post was titled as Chairman from the founding of the DPRK in 1948 until 1966, General Secretary from 1966 to 2012, First Secretary from 2012 to 2016, Chairman from 2016 to 2022, and General Secretary since 2022.

Propaganda workers began calling Kim Il-sung supreme leader in the late 1940s and the term has since been used to describe the status of Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un. Generally however, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il were both referred to as "Great Leader" (위대한 수령) and "Dear Leader" (친애하는 령도자) respectively during their tenures as leader.

List

Picture	Name	Title(s)	Period	Tenure	Ideological contribution(s)
	Terenty Shtykov Терентий Штыков (1907–1964)	Head of the Soviet Civil Administration	9 August 1945 – 9 September 1948	9 August 1945 – 9 September 1948	none
	Kim Il-sung 김일성 (1912–1994)	Premier of the Cabinet of the DPRK	9 September 1948 – 28 December 1972	9 September 1948 – 8 July 1994	Juche
		Chairman of the WPK	24 June 1949 – 12 October 1966
		General Secretary of the WPK	12 October 1966 – 8 July 1994
		President of the DPRK	28 December 1972 – 8 July 1994
	Kim Jong-il 김정일 (1941–2011)	Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK	9 April 1993 – 17 December 2011	9 April 1993 – 17 December 2011	Kimilsungism Songun Ten Principles
		General Secretary of the WPK	8 October 1997 – 17 December 2011
	Kim Jong-un 김정은 (born 1983)	First Secretary of the WPK	11 April 2012 – 9 May 2016	11 April 2012 – present	Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism Byungjin
		First Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK	13 April 2012 – 29 June 2016
		Chairman of the WPK	9 May 2016 – 10 January 2021
		President of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK	29 June 2016 – present
		General Secretary of the WPK	10 January 2021 – present

• Bold offices refer to the highest positions in the Workers' Party of Korea, the unique ruling political party of North Korea.

Timeline

See also

• Eternal leaders of North Korea
• Kim family
• Government of North Korea
• North Korean cult of personality
• Residences of North Korean leaders

External links

• World Statesmen – North Korea