Supreme Leader (North Korean title)

The following is a list of political leaders of North Korea.

Prior to the proclamation of a North Korean state, the Soviet Union had established in 1946 the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea as a de facto government in their occupation zone. Its chairman was Kim Il-sung.

On 9 September 1948 a North Korean state, called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), was proclaimed under the leadership of Kim Il-sung and took the governmental functions over from the Provisional People's Committee.

Since its founding, the most important position in the DPRK has been that of the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). The Communist party and its leader hold ultimate power and authority over state and government.

The formal head of state originally was the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly. On December 28, 1972 party leader and Premier Kim Il-sung proclaimed himself President and thus become head of state. He held this office until his death on July 8, 1994 when he was proclaimed the "Eternal President of the Republic". Since then, de jure functions of the head of state had been returned to the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly.

After the death of Kim Il-sung, his son Kim Jong-il held supreme power in the country as Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea and General Secretary of the party until his own death on December 17, 2011.

The current leader is Kim Jong-il's son Kim Jong-un, who was revealed to be in charge of the country since his father's death by the Rodong Sinmun and finally publicly acknowledged as supreme leader at the military review ending Kim Jong-il's funeral on December 29, 2011.

Government is headed by the Council of Ministers and its Chairman, sometimes colloquially called Premier.

Other important institutions include the Supreme People's Assembly, whose sessions are chaired by a Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, and, since 1993, the National Defence Commission, which hold supreme command of the DPRK's armed forces.

Supreme leaders

To date, "supreme leader" has been applied to three individual North Korean leaders, from three generations of a single family (dates approximate and open to dispute):

  First generation   Second generation   Third generation

Picture	Name	Offices Held	Period	Supreme Rule	Party	Signature
	Kim Il-sung 김일성 金日成
		Supreme Commander of the KPA	February 8, 1948 - December 24, 1991	September 9, 1948 ↓ July 8, 1994	Workers' Party of Korea
		Premier of the DPRK Council of Ministers	September 9, 1948 - December 28, 1972
		Chairman of the WPK Central Committee	June 30, 1949 - October 11, 1966
		Chairman of the WPK Central Military Commission	1950 - July 8, 1994
		General Secretary of the WPK Central Committee	October 12, 1966 - July 8, 1994
		President of the DPRK	December 28, 1972 - July 8, 1994
		Eternal President of the Republic	July 8, 1994 - Incumbent
	Kim Jong-il 김정일 金正日
		Head of the WPK Organization and Guidance Department	1974 - December 17, 2011	July 8, 1994 ↓ December 17, 2011	Workers' Party of Korea
		First Vice-Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK	1990 - April 9, 1993
		Supreme Commander of the KPA	December 24, 1991 - December 17, 2011
		Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK	April 9, 1993 - December 17, 2011
		General Secretary of the WPK Central Committee	October 8, 1997 - December 17, 2011
		Chairman of the WPK Central Military Commission	October 8, 1997 - December 17, 2011
	Kim Jong-un 김정은 金正恩	Vice-Chairman of the WPK Central Military Commission	September 28, 2010 - Incumbent	December 17, 2011 ↓ Incumbent	Workers' Party of Korea
		Acting Chairman of the WPK Central Military Commission	December 17, 2011 - Incumbent
		Acting General Secretary of the WPK Central Committee	December 26, 2011 - Incumbent
		Supreme Commander of the KPA	December 28, 2011 - Incumbent

Leaders of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK)

Flag of the Workers' Party of Korea

#	Picture	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
Chairman of the Central Committee
1		Kim Il-sung	30 June 1949	11 October 1966	Workers' Party of Korea
General Secretaries of the Central Committee
1		Kim Il-sung	12 October 1966	8 July 1994	Workers' Party of Korea
2		Kim Jong-il	8 October 1997	17 December 2011	Workers' Party of Korea
		Kim Jong-un Acting	26 December 2011	Incumbent	Workers' Party of Korea

Heads of state

#	Picture	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
Chairmen of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly
1		Kim Tu-bong	9 September 1948	20 September 1957	Workers' Party of Korea
2		Choi Yong-kun	20 September 1957	28 December 1972	Workers' Party of Korea
President of the Republic
1		Kim Il-sung	28 December 1972	8 July 1994	Workers' Party of Korea
President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly
3		Kim Yong-nam	5 September 1998	Incumbent	Workers' Party of Korea

Kim Il-sung died on 8 July 1994, but has since been posthumously named the "Eternal President of the Republic". Thus his son and successor as leader, the late Kim Jong-il, was not given the title of President.

Heads of government

#	Picture	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
Chairmen of the Council of Ministers
1		Kim Il-sung	9 September 1948	28 December 1972	Workers' Party of Korea
2		Kim Il	28 December 1972	29 April 1976	Workers' Party of Korea
3		Pak Song-chol	19 April 1976	16 December 1977	Workers' Party of Korea
4		Li Jong-ok	16 December 1977	27 January 1984	Workers' Party of Korea
5		Kang Song-san	27 January 1984	29 December 1986	Workers' Party of Korea
6		Li Gun-mo	29 December 1986	12 December 1988	Workers' Party of Korea
7		Yon Hyong-muk	12 December 1988	11 December 1992	Workers' Party of Korea
8		Kang Song-san	11 December 1992	21 February 1997	Workers' Party of Korea
		Hong Song-nam Acting	21 February 1997	5 September 1998	Workers' Party of Korea
9		Hong Song-nam	5 September 1998	3 September 2003	Workers' Party of Korea
10		Pak Pong-ju	3 September 2003	11 April 2007	Workers' Party of Korea
11		Kim Yong-il	11 April 2007	7 June 2010	Workers' Party of Korea
12		Choe Yong-rim	7 June 2010	Incumbent	Workers' Party of Korea

Heads of parliament

#	Picture	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
Chairmen of the Supreme People's Assembly
1		Kim Tu-bong	9 September 1948	20 September 1957	Workers' Party of Korea
2		Choi Yong-kun	20 September 1957	28 December 1972	Workers' Party of Korea
3		Hwang Jang-yop	28 December 1972	1983	Workers' Party of Korea
4		Yang Hyong-sop	1983	5 September 1998	Workers' Party of Korea
5		Choe Thae-bok	5 September 1998	Incumbent	Workers' Party of Korea

See also

• List of heads of state of North Korea
• President of North Korea
• Eternal President of the Republic
• Premier of North Korea
  • List of Premiers of North Korea
• Government of North Korea
• Politics of North Korea