Premier of North Korea

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Premier of the Cabinet of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Incumbent Kim Tok-hun since 13 August 2020
Inaugural holder	Kim Il-sung
Formation	9 September 1948

Politics of North Korea
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The Premier of the Cabinet^[1] (Korean: 내각 총리; MR: Naegak Ch'ongni) is the head of the cabinet of North Korea and a key adviser to the Supreme Leader of North Korea. The office is also alternatively known as Prime Minister of North Korea.^[2] The current premier is Kim Tok-hun.^[3]

History[]

Originally, under the 1948 Constitution of the DPRK, the Premier was the highest state post in North Korea. Kim Il-sung himself inaugurated the post, keeping it for 24 years until 1972, while the ceremonial role of the head of State rested in the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly.

The 1972 Constitution created the post of President of the DPRK, 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 , 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 (정무원 총리, jungmuwon chongni).

After Kim Il-sung died, the post of president remained vacant (officially Kim Il-sung was proclaimed Eternal President) as Kim Jong-il 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 represents and oversees the cabinet, which is charged with executing the policies decided by the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. The office has no policy-making authority of its own.

The Premier is nominally part of a triumvirate overseeing North Korea's executive branch, alongside the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly (the head of state) and the Chairman of the State Affairs Commission (the commander-in-chief). In practice, however, the SAC chairman, which is constitutionally defined as "the highest post in the state," exercises absolute control over the government and the country.^{[citation needed]}

According to the constitution of the DPRK, the SAC chairman, SPA Presidium president and Premier have powers equivalent to one-third of those of a president's powers in most presidential systems. The SPA presidium chairman conducts foreign relations, the premier handles domestic matters and heads the government, and the SAC chairman (known as the chairman of the National Defence Commission before 2016) commands the armed forces. However, the Premier ranks as the lowest of the three: significantly, Kim Jong-il 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.

Officeholders[]

The following is a list of premiers of North Korea since its founding in 1948.

Premier of the Cabinet of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 조선민주주의인민공화국 내각 수상
No.	Premier		Political party		Term of office		Election	Head of State
1		Kim Il-sung 김일성 (1912–1994)		Workers' Party of North Korea	9 September 1948	28 December 1972	1st SPA	Kim Tu-bong (1948–1957)		Workers' Party of North Korea
				Workers' Party of Korea						Workers' Party of Korea
							2nd SPA	Choe Yong-gon (1957–1972)		Korean Social Democratic Party
										Workers' Party of Korea
							3rd SPA
							4th SPA
Premier of the Administration Council of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 조선민주주의인민공화국 정무원 총리
No.	Premier		Political party		Term of office		Election	Head of State
2		Kim Il 김일 (1910–1984)		Workers' Party of Korea	28 December 1972	30 April 1976	5th SPA	Kim Il-sung (1972–1994)		Workers' Party of Korea
3		Pak Song-chol 박성철 (1913–2008)		Workers' Party of Korea	30 April 1976	15 December 1977
4		Ri Jong-ok 리종옥 (1916–1999)		Workers' Party of Korea	15 December 1977	25 January 1984	6th SPA
							7th SPA
5		Kang Song-san 강성산 (1931–2007)		Workers' Party of Korea	25 January 1984	29 December 1986
6		Ri Kun-mo 리근모 (1926–2001)		Workers' Party of Korea	29 December 1986	12 December 1988	8th SPA
7		Yon Hyong-muk 연형묵 (1931–2005)		Workers' Party of Korea	12 December 1988	11 December 1992
							9th SPA
(5)		Kang Song-san 강성산 (1931–2007)		Workers' Party of Korea	11 December 1992	21 February 1997
								Vacant (1994–1998)
–		Hong Song-nam 홍성남 (1929–2009) Acting Premier of the Administration Council		Workers' Party of Korea	21 February 1997	5 September 1998
Premier of the Cabinet of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 조선민주주의인민공화국 내각 총리
No.	Premier		Political party		Term of office		Election	Head of State
8		Hong Song-nam 홍성남 (1929–2009)		Workers' Party of Korea	5 September 1998	3 September 2003	10th SPA	Kim Yong-nam (1998–2019)		Workers' Party of Korea
9		Pak Pong-ju 박봉주 (born 1939)		Workers' Party of Korea	3 September 2003	11 April 2007	11th SPA
10		Kim Yong-il 김영일 (born 1944)		Workers' Party of Korea	11 April 2007	4 June 2010
							12th SPA
11		Choe Yong-rim 최영림 (born 1930)		Workers' Party of Korea	4 June 2010	1 April 2013
(9)		Pak Pong-ju 박봉주 (born 1939)		Workers' Party of Korea	1 April 2013	11 April 2019
							13th SPA
12		Kim Jae-ryong 김재룡 (born 1959)		Workers' Party of Korea	11 April 2019	13 August 2020	14th SPA	Kim Jong-un (since 2019)		Workers' Party of Korea
13		Kim Tok-hun 김덕훈 (born 1962)		Workers' Party of Korea	13 August 2020	Incumbent

See also[]

• Vice Premier of North Korea
• Prime Minister of Imperial Korea (1895–1910)
• Government of North Korea
• List of leaders of North Korea
• List of heads of state of North Korea
• President of the State Affairs Commission
• Eternal President of the Republic
• Politics of North Korea

References[]