The General Political Bureau (GPB) is the internal
politburo
A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states.
Names
The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...
of the
Korean People's Army (KPA), used by the leadership of the
North Korean government to exert political control over the military. The GPB is subordinate to the
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
and operates under the direction of the
Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. The GPB controls units of the KPA on all levels down to company level. It primarily exerts control through propaganda, education, and cultural activities. Under directions of the
State Affairs Commission of North Korea, it also controls troop movements.
During
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 ...
's ''
Songun'' (military first) era in particular, the GPB remained relatively independent and unchanged for decades. However, after the 2016
7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea under
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 ...
, the party had regained enough power to exert influence over the GPB. Consequentially, in 2017 the party
Central Committee
Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
was ordered to carry out an inspection of the GPB, the first of its kind in 20 years. The inspection was carried out by
Choe Ryong-hae.
, the Director of the General Political Bureau is
Kwon Yong-jin.
In popular culture
*The General Political Bureau (GPB) is featured in the
South Korean drama ''
Crash Landing on You'', where the main character
Ri Jeong-hyeok has power and authority in
Korean People's Army due to his father being the Director of the GPB.
See also
*
General Staff Department of the Korean People's Army
*
Political commissar
References
Works cited
*
{{North Korean armed forces
Military of North Korea
Politics of North Korea
Government of North Korea