The Socialist Patriotic Youth League 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 youth organization. It is the main youth organization in North Korea. Directly under 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 ...

, it is the only mass organization expressly mentioned in the charter 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 ...

. Youth under 15 may join the Young Pioneer Corps, itself a part of the larger

Korean Children's Union The Korean Children's Union (KCU) is the precursor to the Socialist Patriotic Youth League of North Korea contributing to North Korean youth movement and pioneer movement. It is for children aged six to fifteen and is a political organisation li ...

. The organization, modeled after the

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

in the former

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 ...

, includes all North Koreans without party membership between the ages of 15 and 30, although married women who opt to become housewives are transferred to the Socialist Women's Union.

History

The League was founded by

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 ...

on 17 January 1946 as the Democratic Youth League of North Korea. It became the youth wing of the

Workers' Party of North Korea The Workers' Party of North Korea () was a communist party in North Korea from 1946 to 1949 and was a predecessor of the current Workers' Party of Korea. It was founded at a congress on 28–30 August 1946, by the merger of the northern branch ...

, later the

. Six months after its foundation in June 1946, the League joined the

World Federation of Democratic Youth The World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) is an international youth organization, and has historically characterized itself as left-wing and anti-imperialist. WFDY was founded in London in 1945 as a broad international youth movement, o ...

, establishing international relations with other progressive youth movements. It was renamed the Democratic Youth League of Korea and in May 1964 renamed as the League of Socialist Working Youth of Korea. It assumed the name Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League on its 50th anniversary in 1996. The 8th congress of the youth league was held in February 1993, after a 12-year lapse since the 7th congress, held in 1981. The last conference was held on 12 July 2012, after ten years since the previous one, held on 21–22 March 2002. The 9th congress has been convened for January 2016, after 23 years since the previous one. On 4 January 2007, in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

, Kim Song-chol, the First Secretary of the

Pyongyang Municipal People's Committee Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

of the KSYL gave a speech at a mass rally, with other high government officials, praising ''

Songun ''Songun'' is the " military-first" policy of North Korea, prioritizing the Korean People's Army in the affairs of state and allocation of resources. "Military-first" as a principle guides political and economic life in North Korea, with "mili ...

'' Korea. During the speech, Kim Song-chol said that the country should bolster "death-defying corps" and create a "youth vanguard faithfully following the Party's Songun politics." The 47th plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the KSYL was held, in Pyongyang, on 22 March 2012. At the meeting, former First Secretary

Ri Yong-chol Ri Yong-chol (; born 8 January 1991) is a North Korean footballer who currently plays as a defender for North Korean club Hwaebul Sports Club. International career Ri made his first senior international appearance in a friendly in and agains ...

was relieved of his post due to his age and

Jon Yong-nam Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".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 ...

has been replacing military officials with KSYL members. The Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League was renamed as the Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League at its 9th Congress held on 27–28 August 2016. It was renamed as the Socialist Patriotic Youth League at its 10th Congress held on 27–28 April 2021, with the aims of reflecting its nature as a reserve force to socialist construction.

Duties

Within

the government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, the league coordinates the national youth policy of North Korea together with other youth-serving ministries, such as the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. The league plays an important role in the planning, implementation and evaluation of this national youth policy and serves as a national youth platform to link both the governmental and nongovernmental youth-related organizations and activities in this over-all national youth policy. The league is the party's most important ideological and organizational training ground, with branches and cells wherever there are regular party organizations. "Youth league cells exist in the army, factories, cooperative farms, schools, cultural institutions, and government agencies." The youth movement shifted its focus after

Kim Il-sung's death Kim Il-sung died of a sudden heart attack on the early morning of 8 July 1994 at age 82. North Korea's government did not report the death for more than 34 hours after it occurred. An official mourning period was declared from 8–17 July, du ...

and expanded its ideological indoctrination to include the "revolutionary accomplishments" of

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 ...

and the "brilliance" of ''

''. "The KSYL, by restricting the ideological culture and organized groups of all youths, monitors any changes in the society’s way of thinking that may happen with the change of generations. It also organizes all youths to be actively involved in production, construction, and military service. The KSYL plays the important role of restricting any form of opposition groups or actions among the youth of North Korea", according to Ken E. Gause. The league's official newspaper is the '' Chongnyon Jonwi''. It also has a sports team,

Hwaebul Sports Club Hwaebul Sports Club is an association football club from Pochon, North Korea, founded in 2013. It is the sports club of the Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League and is based at the 5,000 capacity Hwaebul Stadium. They are presently playing in ...

Maintenance of Social Order Brigade

Members of the league perform spot checks to see if North Koreans are maintaining ideological purity. Prohibited actions include not wearing a

Kim Il-sung badge Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il badges are lapel pins with portraits depicting either one or both of the Eternal Leaders of North Korea, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. The badges have been common since the late 1960s, and are produced by the Mansuda ...

or wearing a T-shirt with Roman writing.

References

External links

* – the official newspaper of the league {{Authority control Youth organizations established in 1946 Youth wings of communist parties Workers' Party of Korea

History

Duties

Maintenance of Social Order Brigade

See also

References

External links