The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) is a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

n state agency aimed at promoting

Korean reunification Korean reunification () is the potential reunification of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea into a single Korean sovereign state. The process towards reunification was started by the June 15th North–South Joi ...

Overview

The CPRK was not a governmental body per se but rather an offshoot of the

Korean Workers' Party The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party o ...

United Front Department The United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea (UFD, ) is a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) tasked with relations with South Korea. It conducts propaganda operations and espionage and manage ...

; the distinction is intended to emphasise the North Korean government's position that the Southern government is illegitimate and should not be dealt with by official bodies. It was established on 13 May 1961 as part of Pyongyang's ongoing response to the South Korean

April Revolution The April Revolution ( ko, 4.19 혁명), also called the April 19 Revolution or April 19 Movement, were mass protests in South Korea against President Syngman Rhee and the First Republic from April 11 to 26, 1960 which led to Rhee's resigna ...

of the preceding year which had resulted in

Rhee Syng-man Syngman Rhee (, ; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965) was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Ko ...

's resignation. The mere announcement of the CPRF's creation is believed to have exacerbated political instability in the South and to have contributed to the success of army general

Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

's coup three days later. In the aftermath of the Committee's creation, Pyongyang's reunification policy took a turn towards more pro-active means aimed at provoking the Southern government and inciting an internal Communist revolution there; Pyongyang concluded further military agreements with China and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, captured the USS ''Pueblo'', attempted to assassinate Park Chung-hee in 1968 in what became known as the Blue House Raid, and shot down an American aircraft the following year. The CPRF conducts propaganda operations in South Korea and elsewhere abroad. During the fourth session of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) on June 29, 2016, the committee was reorganized and elevated into a state agency.

Membership

Former chairmen

* Kim Il (1980s)

Former vice-chairmen

* Choe Deok-sin (until 1989) *

Kim Yong-sun Kim Yong-sun (1934 – 26 October 2003) was a North Korean politician. At the time of his death, he was vice-chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland. He was reported to have been killed in a car accident. He a ...

(until 2003) * Kim Ki-nam (c. 2005)

Overview

Membership

Former chairmen

Former vice-chairmen

See also

References

Further reading