The premier of North Korea, officially the premier of the Cabinet of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

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 borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

and leader of the North Korean Cabinet. The premier is officially appointed by the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the legislature of North Korea. It is ostensibly the highest organ of state power and the only branch of government in North Korea, with all state organs subservient to it under the principle of unified ...

(SPA), which also appoints other members of the Cabinet on the nomination of the premier. The premier organizes and leads the Cabinet, and constitutionally represents the

government of North Korea 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 incumbent premier is Pak Thae-song, since 29 December 2024.

History

Originally, under the 1948 Constitution of the DPRK, the Premier was the highest state post in North Korea.

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 ...

himself inaugurated the post, keeping it for 24 years until 1972, while the ceremonial role of the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

rested in the

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly The chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, formerly known as the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, w ...

. The 1972 Constitution created the post of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

, which replaced the premiership as the top state post. The executive presidency was created with Kim in mind, and he transferred to that post soon after the Constitution was promulgated. The Premier was now the head of the Administration Council, but most of the powers of the former cabinet were passed to the Central People's Committee, the highest ruling council chaired by the president himself. The first premier after Kim Il Sung was his long-time ally Kim Il. The post was then officially known as ''Premier of the Administration Council'' (, ''jungmuwon chongni''). After Kim Il Sung died, the post of president remained vacant (officially Kim Il Sung was proclaimed Eternal President) as his son

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 ...

planned a new State reorganization. A constitution revision in 1998 abolished both the Central People's Committee and the Administration Council, re-creating the Cabinet.

Functions

The premier is officially elected by the

(SPA), which also has the right to recall the premier. The premier also nominates the candidacies for other members of the Cabinet, including vice premiers, the cabinet chairman, various ministers and other cabinet members, which are then appointed by the SPA. A newly-appointed premier takes an oath of allegiance in the SPA on behalf of other cabinet members. The premier organizes and oversees the cabinet, and represents the

. The premier also attends the plenary meetings and the permanent committee meetings of the Cabinet. The cabinet is charged with executing the policies decided by the

Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea The Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea is the Central committee, highest organ between National meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea, national meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of North Korea. Accor ...

and the office effectively has no policy-making authority of its own. The Premier is nominally part of a triumvirate overseeing North Korea's executive branch, alongside the

and the President of the State Affairs Commission. According to the constitution, the SAC President, SPA Standing Committee chairman and Premier have powers equivalent to one-third of those of a president's powers in most presidential systems. The SPA Standing Committee chairman conducts foreign relations, the premier handles domestic matters and heads the government, and the SAC President (known as the chairman of the National Defence Commission before 2016) commands the armed forces. However, the SAC President is constitutionally defined as "the highest post in the state" and the country's supreme leader. The Premier ranked as the lowest member of the executive triumvirate: significantly,

was NDC Chairman without interruption from 1993 until 2011, and Kim Yong-nam was President of the SPA Presidium from 1998 to 2019, while there have been six premiers since Kim Il Sung's death. Kim Tok Hun, the incumbent Premier, has assumed the second-ranking position, while Choe Ryong-hae, Chairman of the SPA Standing Committee, is currently ranked third.

History

Functions

List of office holders

Timeline

See also

References