The supreme leader () of
North Korea is the ''
de facto''
paramount leader
Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often hol ...
of the
Workers' Party of Korea, the state and the
Korean People's Army. The title has not been written into the
national constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princip ...
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
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 ...
, 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.
The first priority political position of the supreme leader is the leadership of the Workers' Party.
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 again from 2016 to 2021, and General Secretary again since 2021. 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
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 ...
. Generally however, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il were both referred to as "Great Leader" () and "Dear Leader" () respectively during their tenures as leader.
List
*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 The Kim family or Kim clan may refer to:
People
* The Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il Sung in 1948
* The Gimhae Kim clan associated with the Geumgwan Gaya
* The later rulers of Silla, who were mostly members of the ...
*
Government of North Korea
*
North Korean cult of personality
*
Residences of North Korean leaders
*
Paramount Leader
Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often hol ...
, the Chinese equivalent
References
External links
World StatesmenNorth Korea
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leaders of North Korea
North Korea, Leaders
Positions of authority
Government of North Korea
Lists of North Korean people
North Korea politics-related lists