The Eternal leaders of North Korea, officially the Eternal leaders of ''Juche'' Korea, refers to the practice of granting posthumous titles to deceased

leaders Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

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 ...

. The official title was established by a line in the preamble to the Constitution, as amended on 30 June 2016, and in subsequent revisions. It reads (in the original version):

History of the title

Presidency of North Korea before 1994

The post of "President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" was established in the

Constitution of North Korea 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 i ...

in 1972. Until then,

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

held the posts of

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

and

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the

Workers' Party of Korea 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 of ...

. In 1972, the presidency was established, and Kim Il-sung was elected to the position by the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the unicameral legislature of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of the DPRK's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year ...

, the North Korean

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

, on 28 December 1972. Kim served as president until 1994 when he died, and the position was left vacant and his son and successor

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

was not given the title.

"Eternal President"

The revised constitution in 1998 abolished the presidency and declared Kim Il-sung "eternal President". The preamble of the Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as amended on 5 September 1998 reads: The president was the ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

of North Korea, but whose powers were exercised by the "sacred leader" of the nation's

state ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

called ''

Juche ''Juche'' ( ; ), officially the ''Juche'' idea (), is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and ...

''. According to Ashley J. Tellis and Michael Wills, this amendment to the preamble was an indication of the unique North Korean characteristic of being a

theocratic state Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs. Etymology The word theocracy originates fro ...

based on the personality cult surrounding Kim Il-sung. In addition, North Korea adopted a

Juche calendar The ''Juche'' calendar, named after the ''Juche'' ideology, is the system of year-numbering used in North Korea. It begins with the birth of Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea. His birth year, 1912 in the Gregorian calendar, is "''Juche'' ...

dating from 1912, the year of Kim Il-sung's birth. The 2012 Constitution once again referred to Kim Il-sung as the "eternal President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea".

"Eternal General Secretary" / "Eternal Chairman"

After the

death of Kim Jong-il The death of Kim Jong-il was reported by North Korean state television news on 19 December 2011. The presenter Ri Chun-hee announced that he had died on 17 December at 8:30 am of a massive heart attack while travelling by train to an area ou ...

, the constitution was amended in 2012, declaring him Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and Eternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission. The title of

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political ...

was changed to " first secretary", although in 2021 it was renamed "General Secretary". In 2016, the title "eternal leaders of Juche Korea" was introduced by amending the preamble of the constitution, which was given to

and

Head of state role in North Korea after the death of Kim Il-sung

The functions and powers previously belonging to the president were divided between numerous officials: the

premier of North Korea The Premier of the Cabinet () is the head of government of North Korea and a key adviser to the Supreme Leader of North Korea. The office is also alternatively known as Prime Minister of North Korea. The prime minister of North Korea is the ...

; the

chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly The Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly () is the presiding officer of the Supreme People's Assembly, the legislature of North Korea.Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Article 94 The Supreme People's Asse ...

chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly The chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (), formerly known as the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Ko ...

; and the head of the military, the

chairman of the National Defence Commission The President of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea () is the head of state of North Korea.Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Article 100 The president chairs the State A ...

(replaced by

State Affairs Commission of North Korea The State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (SAC) is defined by the 2016 constitution as "the supreme policy-oriented leadership body of State power." The current president of the SAC, which is defined by the same ...

in 2016) and

supreme commander of the Korean People's Army The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국무력 최고사령관) is the commander-in-chief of the Korean People's Army, the military of North Korea. The office ...

. These positions are currently held by

Kim Tok-hun Kim Tok-hun (, born 1961) is a North Korean politician serving as the Premier of North Korea since August 2020. He is also a full member on the Presidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea and served as the chief of the parliamenta ...

Choe Ryong-hae Choe Ryong-hae (born 15 January 1950) 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 ...

, and

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

respectively.

References

Bibliography

* {{Kim Jong-il 1998 in North Korea Government of North Korea Kim Il-sung Kim Jong-il Posthumous recognitions