The general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea () is the

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

of the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

(WPK), the ruling party in North Korea, and the country's supreme leader. Party rules stipulate that the party congress elects the general secretary. The party conference and the Central Committee are empowered to remove and elect the party leader. The general secretary is ''ex officio'' Chairman of the WPK Central Military Commission and leads the work of the secretariat.
Additionally, the general secretary is by right of office member of the WPK Presidium, the WPK Politburo and the WPK Secretariat. The office traces its lineage back to the reestablishment of the Communist Party of Korea (CPK) on 14 September 1945 when Pak Hon-yong was elected Chairman of the CPK Central Committee. Later on 13 October 1945 the CPK established an internal North Korean Branch Bureau (NKBB) and nominated Hyon Chun-hyok as branch secretary. Hyon Chun-hyok was assassinated on 3 September 1945 and Kim Yong-bom was elected as branch secretary in his place. On 10 April 1946 the NKBB became independent of the CPK and changed its name to Communist Party of North Korea (CPNK). Later that year, on 30 August, the CPNK merged with the New People's Party of Korea to establish 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 branc ...

(WPNK). Kim Tu-bong was elected WPNK Chairman by the 1st WPNK Central Committee. In the meantime the

Workers' Party of South Korea The Workers' Party of South Korea () was a communist party in South Korea from 1946 to 1949. It is also sometimes colloquially referred to as the "Namro Party" (). It was founded on 23 November 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of ...

(WPSK) was established through the merger of the Communist Party of South Korea (led by Pak Hon-yong), New People's Party of Korea and a faction of the

People's Party of Korea The People's Party of Korea () was a moderate left-wing political party created on November 12, 1945 by Lyuh Woon-Hyung Lyuh Woon-hyung (; 25 May 1886 – 19 July 1947), also known by his art name Mongyang (), was a Korean independence movem ...

on 24 November 1946. The WPSK Central Committee elected

Ho Hon Ho Hon (; 22 July 1885 – 16 August 1951) was a Korean independence activist and politician of the Japanese colonial period and early years of North Korea. As a lawyer, he defended independence activists along with Lee In and Kim Byong-ro. In ...

as its party chairman. On the merger of the WPNK and the WPSK on 24 June 1949, the 2nd Central Committee elected

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 led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

as Chairman of the WPK Central Committee. The offices of Chairman and Vice Chairman of the WPK Central Committee were abolished on 12 October 1966 and replaced with the offices of General Secretary and Secretary of the WPK Central Committee by a decision of the 14th Plenary Session of the 4th Central Committee. Kim Il Sung was elected and remained in office until his death on 8 July 1994. The post was abolished and replaced by the office of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea on 8 October 1997 after having been left vacant for .

Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader of North Korea from Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, the de ...

was elected to the office by a joint announcement of the 6th Central Committee and the 6th Central Military Commission. Kim Jong Il remained in office until his death on 17 December 2011. The office of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea was left vacant for and was later abolished. Instead,

Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...

was elected First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea on 11 April 2012, and his father, Kim Jong Il, was given the appellation "Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea". On 9 May 2016, the 7th WPK Congress abolished the office of First Secretary and the Secretariat and replaced it with Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and the office of Vice Chairman of the WPK Central Committee. A similar change took place at the 8th WPK Congress, where the offices of chairman and vice chairman were abolished and replaced by the office of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and the Secretariat.

Title history

Predecessors (1945–49)

National

In the North

In the South

Leaders of the Workers' Party of Korea

By officeholders

Timeline

By term

Notes

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

"Books:" * * * "Journal articles:" * {{WPKHeads Leaders of the Workers' Party of Korea and its predecessors Leaders of political parties in North Korea