Workers' Party of Korea

Workers' Party of Korea
조선로동당
AbbreviationWPK
General SecretaryKim Jong Un
Presidium
Founded24 June 1949 (1949-06-24)
Merger of
HeadquartersGovernment Complex No. 1, Chung-guyok, Pyongyang
NewspaperRodong Sinmun
Youth wingSocialist Patriotic Youth League
Children's wingKorean Children's Union
Armed wingKorean People's Army
Paramilitary wingWorker-Peasant Red Guards
South Korean frontAnti-Imperialist National Democratic Front
Membership (2021 est.)Increase ~6,500,000
Ideology
National affiliationDemocratic Front for the Reunification of Korea (1949–2024)
International affiliationIMCWP
Colors  Red
Anthem"Long Live the Workers' Party of Korea"
StatusRuling party in North Korea; outlawed in South Korea under the National Security Act
Party flag
Workers' Party of Korea
North Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl조선로동당
Hancha朝鮮勞動黨
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationJoseon Rodongdang
McCune–ReischauerChosŏn Rodongdang
South Korean name
Hangul북한노동당
Hanja北韓勞動黨
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationBukhan Nodongdang
McCune–ReischauerPukhan Nodongdang

The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK),[b] 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 the oldest active party in Korea. It also controls the Korean People's Army, North Korea's armed forces. The WPK is the largest party represented in the Supreme People's Assembly and coexists with two other legal parties that are completely subservient to the WPK and must accept the WPK's "leading role" as a condition of their existence.[1] The WPK is banned in South Korea under the National Security Act and is sanctioned by the United Nations, the European Union, Australia, and the United States.[2]

Officially, the WPK is a communist party guided by Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism, a synthesis of the ideas of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.[3][4] The party is committed to Juche, an ideology attributed to Kim Il Sung which promotes national independence and development through the efforts of the popular masses. Although Juche was originally presented as the Korean interpretation of Marxism–Leninism, the party now presents it as a freestanding philosophy. The WPK recognizes the ruling Kim family as the ultimate source of its political thought. The fourth party conference, held in 2012, amended the party rules to state that Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism was "the only guiding idea of the party".[5] Under Kim Jong Il, who governed as chairman of the National Defence Commission, communism was steadily removed from party and state documents in favor of Songun, or military-first politics. The military, rather than the working class, was established as the base of political power. However, his successor Kim Jong Un reversed this position in 2021, replacing Songun with "people-first politics" as the party's political method and reasserting the party's commitment to communism.[3][4][6]

The WPK is organized according to the Monolithic Ideological System, conceived by Kim Yong-ju and Kim Jong Il. The highest body of the WPK is formally the party congress; however, before Kim Jong Un's tenure as party leader, a congress rarely occurred. Between 1980 and 2016, no congresses were held. Although the WPK is organizationally similar to other communist parties, in practice it is far less institutionalized and informal politics plays a larger role than usual. Institutions such as the Central Committee, the Secretariat, the Central Military Commission (CMC), the Politburo and the Politburo's Presidium have much less power than what is formally bestowed on them by the party rules. Kim Jong Un is the current party leader, serving as General Secretary of the WPK.


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  1. ^ Cha & Hwang 2009, p. 214.
  2. ^ The White House 2016.
  3. ^ a b Kim 2021: "Our Party never expects that there will be any fortuitous opportunity for us in paving the road for our people and in realizing their great aim and ideals to build socialism and communism. ... When the hundreds of thousands of cell secretaries and officials across the Party unite its members firmly under the leadership of the Party Central Committee and give full play to their loyalty, patriotism and creative wisdom, our revolution will always emerge victorious in high spirits and the ideal of communism will surely come true."
  4. ^ a b Yonhap News Agency 2021: "The immediate aim of the Workers' Party of Korea is to build a prosperous and civilized socialist society in the northern half of the Republic and to realize the independent and democratic development of society on a nationwide scale, and the ultimate goal is to build a communist society in which the people's ideals are fully realized."
  5. ^ Frank et al. 2013, p. 45.
  6. ^ Yonhap News Agency 2021.

Workers' Party of Korea

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