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 Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), or simply the Politburo, formerly the Political Committee (1946–61), is the highest decision-making body in the ruling party between sessions of its

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 ...

. Article 25 of the Party Charter stipulates that "The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee and its

Standing Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

organize and direct all party work on behalf of the party Central Committee between plenary meetings. The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee shall meet at least once every month." The Politburo is elected by the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

History

Until April 1956, the Politburo was known as the Political Council. After

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 ...

's unitary ruling system was established in the 1960s, the Politburo was transformed from a decision-making body where policies could be discussed into a

rubber stamp A rubber stamp is an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized onto a sheet of rubber. Rubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to rubber ...

body. Leading members have disappeared without explanation; the last was

Kim Tong-gyu Kim Tong-gyu ( ko, 김동규; 1915 - unknown) was a politician of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea who served as the Deputy Chairman of the State. Biography Kim was born in former Manchuria in northeastern China. He took part in anti-Ja ...

, in 1977. Politburo members under Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il lacked a strong power base, and depended on the party leader for their position. Because of this, the Politburo became a loyal servant of the party leader. The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) of the Workers' Party of Korea was established at the 6th Congress in 1980, and became the highest WPK body when the Politburo and the Central Committee were not in session. With the death of

O Jin-u O Jin-u (March 8, 1917 – February 25, 1995) was a North Korean general and politician. He served with Kim Il-sung's partisan unit and eventually rose through the ranks of the North Korean Army. He distinguished himself during the Korean War an ...

in 1995, Kim Jong-il remained the only member of the Politburo Standing Committee still alive; the four others (Kim Il-sung, Kim Il, O Jin-u, and

Ri Jong-ok Ri Jong-ok (10 January 1916 – 23 September 1999) was a North Korean politician who served as the Premier of North Korea from 1977 to 1984. He was elected to the Presidium at the 6th WPK Congress in 1980. He was appointed as Vice President o ...

) died in office. Between O Jin-u's death and the 3rd Conference, there were no reports indicating that Kim Jong-il or the central party leadership was planning to renew the PSC composition. Similar to the Central Committee, the Politburo was dormant during much of Kim Jong-il's rule; however, the 3rd Conference elected new Politburo members. While many foreign observers believed it would signify a generational shift, it did not; the youngest member was 53 years old, and the average age was 74 (with 12 over age 80). The majority of new members were aides to Kim Jong-il or Kim family members. Kim Kyong-hui (Kim Jong-il's sister) and

Jang Song-thaek Jang Song-thaek (January or February 1946 – 12 December 2013) was a leading figure in the government of North Korea. He was married to Kim Kyong-hui, the only daughter of North Korean Premier Kim Il-sung and his first wife Kim Jong-suk, and o ...

(Kim Kyong-hui's husband) were appointed full and candidate member, respectively. Several of Jang's protégés were elected candidate members, including Ju Sang-song ( Minister of People's Security),

U Tong-chuk U Tong-chuk or Woo Dong-cheuk (born August 8, 1942) is a North Korean official. He was a politburo member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. In addition, he was head of State Security Department from 2009 to 2012. After Febru ...

(First Deputy Director of the

State Security Department The Ministry of State Security of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국 국가보위성) is the secret police agency of North Korea. It is an autonomous agency of the North Korean government repo ...

) and

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 ...

(Secretary for Military Affairs). Pak Jong-su (First Deputy Head of the Organization and Guidance Department), a leading facilitator of Kim Jong-un's succession, was appointed a candidate member. Most of the new members were cabinet members, military officials, party secretaries or officials from the security establishment. Ten members from the

National Defense Commission The National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (NDC) () was the highest state institution for military and national defence leadership in North Korea, which also served as the highest governing institution of the cou ...

and three deputy premiers were appointed to the Politbüro. Leading economic experts (such as Hong Sok-yong and Tae Jong-su) and foreign experts (such as

Kang Sok-ju Kang Sok-ju ( ko, 강석주; ; August 29, 1939 – May 20, 2016
on

Kim Yong-il Kim Yong-il (; born 2 May 1944) is a North Korean politician who served as the Premier of North Korea from April 2007 to 7 June 2010. He was elected as Premier by the 5th session of the 11th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) in April 2007, repla ...

and

Kim Yang-gon Kim Yang-gon (, 24 April 1942 – 29 December 2015) was a North Korean politician and a senior official of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. Early career Kim Yang-gon started his political career as a vice-director of the party's Internation ...

) became members. At the 4th Conference, one-third of the Politburo was dismissed in unannounced retirements and dismissals. Jang Song-thaek,

Pak To-chun General Pak To-chun ( ko, 박도춘; 9 March 1944 — 27 July 2022) was a politician of North Korea. According to his official biography, Pak was born in Jagang Province in 1944 and joined the Korean People's Army in 1960 (becoming a general i ...

and Vice Marshal

Kim Jong-gak Kim Jong-gak (; born 20 July 1941)
, KCNA, 29 September 2010. is a

were promoted from candidate to full membership;

Hyon Chol-hae Hyon Chol-hae ( ko, 현철해/玄哲海;August 13, 1934 – May 19, 2022) was a North Korean military officer. He was born in Country Yanji,Province Jilin,Manchukuo. During the Korean War, Hyon served as Kim Il-sung's bodyguard, a role which ...

Kim Won-hong Kim Won-hong (; born 17 July 1945) is a North Korean politician and military general. Early life and education Kim was born in what is now North Korea's North Hwanghae Province. He graduated from the Workers' Party of Korea's Kim Il-sung Higher ...

and

Ri Myong-su Ri Myong-su ( ko, 리명수; born on 20 February 1934 in Myongchon, North Hamgyong) is the former chief of General Staff of the Korean People's Army from 2016 to 2018. Ri was a confidant and military aide of the former North Korean leader Kim Jo ...

, all members of the Central Military Commission, were appointed to full Politburo membership. Kwak Pom-gi,

O Kuk-ryol O Kuk-ryol (, born 7 January 1930) is a North Korean military general who served as Vice Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, as head of the Operations Department from April 2009 to June 2016. The son of O Jung-song and n ...

Ro Tu-chol Ro Tu-chol (, born 2 October 1950) is a Vice Premier of North Korea's cabinet and the Chairman of the State Planning Commission. During Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev's three-day visit to Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the ca ...

Ri Pyong-sam Colonel General Ri Pyong-sam (; born 1 July 1935) is the Political Director of North Korea's People's Internal Security Forces. He succeeded General Ju San-song who was dismissed in 2011 due to illness. Ri was educated at Kim Il-sung Military U ...

and

Jo Yon-jun Jo Yon-jun (born September 28, 1937) is a North Korean politician. Jo is a candidate member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and former first deputy in the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD) of the Central Committe ...

were elected candidate members.

Role

Officially, the Politburo is responsible for conducting its activities as well as deciding on important issues between two Central Committee plenums and should meet once a month. Its members include important state and military leaders, as the

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 the vice-chairmen of the

State Affairs Commission 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 ...

. The Politburo's inner body is the

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. Communist states In Communist states the presidi ...

(formerly the Standing Committee), elected by the WPK Central Committee, in charge of day-to-day party work. It is usually made up of the supreme leader and four other members. In practice, the Presidium is the highest body in both the party and the country, and its decisions ''de facto'' have the force of law.

Current membership

As of 8 September 2022, the Politburo is composed of 15 members and 14 alternate members, with the following line-up.

Members

Alternate members

References

Bibliography

;Articles, books and journal entries * * * * ;Books * * * * * * {{Workers' Party of Korea Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea