Eternal leaders of North Korea

Practice of granting posthumous titles to deceased leaders of North Korea

Eternal Leaders of North Korea

Bronze statues of former leaders Kim Il Sung (left) and Kim Jong Il (right) at the Mansu Hill Grand Monument

Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl|

주체조선의 영원한 수령

Hancha|

主體朝鮮의 永遠한 首領

Revised Romanization| Juchejoseonui Yeongwonhan Suryeong
McCune–Reischauer| Chuch'ejosŏnŭi Yŏngwŏnhan Suryŏng

Politics of North Korea

Constitution

* Juche (state ideology)
* Songun ("military-first" policy)
* Eternal leaders
* Kim Il Sung
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Workers' Party of Korea

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* General Secretary and Supreme Leader
* Kim Jong Un
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* Central Committee (8th)
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* Kim Jong Un
* Choe Ryong-hae
* Jo Yong-won
* Kim Tok-hun
* Ri Pyong-chol
* Secretariat (8th)
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* Chairman
* Kim Jong Un
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* Ri Yong-gil
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* Chairman
* Kim Jae-ryong
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* Chairman
* Pak In-chol
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* Chairman
* Choe Ryong-hae
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* Kang Yun-sok
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* Kim Myong-gil

State Affairs Commission

14th term

* President
* Kim Jong Un
* First Vice President
* Choe Ryong-hae
* Vice President
* Kim Tok-hun

Cabinet

14th term

* Premier
* Kim Tok-hun
* Vice Premier
* Pak Jong-gun
* Jon Hyon-chol
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Minister: Choe Son-hui

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The eternal leaders of North Korea are mentions of deceased leaders of North Korea. The phrase was mentioned in a line of the preamble to the Constitution, as amended on 30 June 2016, and in subsequent revisions.

It reads (in the original version):

> Under the leadership of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Korean people will uphold the Great Leader Comrade Kim Il Sung as the eternal President of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Comrade Kim Jong Il as the eternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea...

> — Constitution of North Korea[1]

## History of the title

[edit]

### Presidency of North Korea before 1994

[edit]

Main article: President of North Korea

The post of "President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" was established in the Constitution of North Korea in 1972. Until then, Kim Il Sung held the posts of premier and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea.

In 1972, the presidency was established, and Kim Il Sung was elected to the position by the Supreme People's Assembly, the North Korean legislature, on 28 December 1972. Kim served as president until 1994 when he died, and the position was left vacant and his son and successor Kim Jong Il was not given the title.

### "Eternal President"

[edit]

The preamble of the Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as amended on 5 September 1998 reads:

> Under the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Korean people will hold the great leader Comrade Kim Il-sung in high esteem as the eternal President of the Republic ...[2]

The president was the de jure head of state of North Korea, but whose powers were exercised by the "sacred leader" of the nation's state ideology called Juche. According to Ashley J. Tellis and Michael Wills, this amendment to the preamble was an indication of the unique North Korean characteristic of being a theocratic state based on the personality cult surrounding Kim Il Sung. In addition, North Korea adopted a Juche calendar dating from 1912, the year of Kim Il Sung's birth.[3]

The 2012 Constitution once again referred to Kim Il Sung as the "eternal President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea".[4]

### "Eternal General Secretary" / "Eternal Chairman"

[edit]

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After the death of Kim Jong Il, the constitution was amended in 2012, declaring him Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and Eternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission.

In 2016, the title "eternal leaders of Juche Korea" was introduced by amending the preamble of the constitution, which was given to Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.

## Head of state role in North Korea after the deaths of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il

[edit]

The functions and powers previously belonging to the president were divided between numerous officials: the premier of North Korea; the chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly; and the head of the military, the chairman of the National Defence Commission (replaced by State Affairs Commission of North Korea in 2016) and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army. These positions are currently held by Kim Tok-hun, Choe Ryong-hae, and Kim Jong Un respectively.[citation needed]

## See also

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* North Korea portal
* Politics portal

* Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung
* Death and state funeral of Kim Jong Il
* Kim dynasty (North Korea)
* Kim Il Sung bibliography
* List of things named after Kim Il Sung
* North Korean cult of personality
* President for Life
* Propaganda in North Korea
* Vice President of North Korea

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Constitution of North Korea (2012) Wikisource
2. ^ Constitution of North Korea (1972) Wikisource
3. ^ Tellis, Ashley J.; Wills, Michael (30 September 2007). Domestic Political Change and Grand Strategy. NBR. p. 128\. ISBN 978-0-9713938-8-2. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
4. ^ Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Preamble). 2012.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Jong Il, Kim (1994). Let Us Hold the Great Leader Comrade Kim Il Sung in High Esteem as the Eternal President of Our Republic.

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Kim Il Sung

* General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
* President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
* Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army

Politics|

* Korean War
* August faction incident
* Kapsan faction incident
* 10 Principles for the Establishment of a Monolithic Ideological System
* Chollima Movement
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* 1993
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Elections|

* 1947 North Korean parliamentary election
* 1948
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Books|

* On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work (1955)
* Theses on the Socialist Rural Question in Our Country (1964)
* On the Five-point Policy for National Reunification (1973)
* 10-Point Programme for the Great Unity of the Whole Nation for the Reunification of the Country (1993)
* With the Century (1993)

Family|

* Kim Jong-suk (second wife)
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Kim Jong Il

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Politics|

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Elections|

* 1982
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Books|

* On the Art of the Cinema (1973)
* On the Art of Opera (1974)
* On Further Improving Party Ideological Work (1981)
* On the Juche Idea (1982)
* Our Socialism Centred on the Masses Shall Not Perish (1991)

Family|

* Hong Il-chon (first wife)
* Kim Young-sook (wife)
* Song Hye-rim (partner)
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* Kim Ok (partner)
* Kim Sol-song (daughter)
* Kim Jong-nam (son)
* Kim Jong-chul (son)
* Kim Jong Un (son)
* Kim Yo-jong (daughter)
* Kim Ju-ae (granddaughter)
* Kim Man-il (brother)
* Kim Kyong-hui (sister)
* Kim Pyong-il (half-brother)
* Kim Il Sung (father)
* Kim Jong-suk (mother)
* Kim Yong-ju (uncle)
* Kim Hyong-jik (grandfather)
* Kang Pan-sok (grandmother)

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