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Foundation |
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Kim
Il-sung looks over the draft of a Central
Organizational Committee verdict |
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Although North Korea claims that the KWP (Korean
Workers’ Party) was founded in 1925, the actual
date the KWP was officially proclaimed is October
10, 1945. The provisional committees of the Korean
Communist party in the five northwest provinces
and the ‘zealot assembly’ were convened on this
day for the proclamation. Celebrated in North Korea
as a ‘socialist holiday’, the Congress convened
that day led to the ‘declaration for the fortification
of political views and organizational integrity’
that established the blueprint for the October 13th
launch of the North Korean Branch of the Communist
Party. This body was renamed the ‘North Korean Communist
Party’ in April 1946.
In August of that year, the NKCP joined with the
Shinmin Party, which mainly consisted of former
anti-Japan activists in China, to form the ‘North
Korean Workers’ Party’. Convening a ‘Confederate
Central Committee’ in August with the ‘South Korean
Workers’ Party’ to set up a government, the two
parties were integrated as the ‘Korean Workers’
Party’ on June 30, 1949 following the proclamation
of North Korea. |
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Ideology and Goals |
1st and 2nd Party Congress (pre-North Korea Regime) - The Party
Statutes did not clarify any ideology but merely
set out the goals of establishing an independent
state and enhancing the political/economical/cultural
standards of living for the public in general.
3rd Party Congress (Apr. 1956) - Article 1 of the
Party Statues was amended, specifying Marx-Leninism
as the general ideological guideline for all Party
activities. The operational objective of the party
was to ‘accomplish the glorious task of implementing
a nationwide democratic revolution against imperialism
and feudalism’, to the ends of realizing the ‘final
goal of building a communist society’.
4th Party Congress (Sep. 1961) - No substantial
changes
5th Party Congress (Nov. 1970) - Party Statutes
amended, replacing Marx-Leninism with Kim Il-sung’s
‘Juche (self-reliance)’as the Party’s guiding ideology.
6th Party Congress (Oct. 1980) - Kim Il-sung’s ‘Juche’
Ideology was rectified as the ‘monolithic’ ideology
of the Party, while the ultimate goals of the Party
were altered to ‘realizing Juche thought in every
aspect of society’ and ‘building a communist state’.
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Organization and Operation |
Organization
In principle, the Party is governed democratically
according to the general will of its members. Therefore,
the body where the general will is heard (the Party
Congress) is the highest deliberative authority
in North Korea. Because the functions of the Congress
are delegated to a permanent body called the ‘Central
Committee’, it is this Committee that actually heads
the Party. The Central Committee is made of the
Politburo, which is the highest executive body in
North Korea and the Secretariat. Working-level departments
for organization/guidance, propaganda/agitation,
external affairs, etc. are supervised by the Secretariat. |
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Put simply, authority runs from the Politburo
to the Secretariat and then to the Central Committee.
The Politburo and the Secretariat usually share
many members.
Therefore, the most powerful government officials
are those who are members of both the Politburo
and the Secretariat. Next in the hierarchy are Politburo
members, Politburo candidates, Secretariat members,
and Central Committee members. Members or candidates
of the Politburo who are powerful but still not
Secretariat members are most likely senior statesmen
or high-ranking officials of the Cabinet or other
key state bodies. Regional organizations in each
administrative division are supervised by a pertinent
party committee. |
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Operation
According to the Party Statutes, the Party operates
under ‘the principle of centralized democracy’.
The Party Congress is the highest deliberative authority.
A strict chain of command runs from the Central
Committee to party organizations and to their members.
Power is delegated from the grassroots level to
the Central Committee, which again delegates power
to the Secretariat and then to the Politburo. Therefore,
all power converges in the Chairman of the Politburo
under a one-man rule.
The Chairman, being both the Secretary General of
the Party and a member of the Standing Committee,
exercises total control over the two key organizations.
This is the institutional structure of North Korea’s
one-man rule system. |
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Party Members |
The dominance of the Party’s role means that Party
members enjoy many privileges in North Korean society.
Raising one’s social status is virtually impossible
without first becoming a Party member. Even the
educational system is designed to train elite Party
members.
Once mandatory education begins, a North Korea citizen
must join the ‘Korea Youth Corps’(ages 7 to 13)
and the ‘Youth Confederation’(ages 14~30), where
he/she is indoctrinated to devote him/herself to
the Party. According to one’s social background,
skills, and personal volition, one first becomes
a ‘candidate member’ of the Party before being elevated
to ‘regular member’ status. The total number of
Party members has changed drastically, according
to changing political needs. |
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Growth in the Number of Party Members |
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3rd Expansionary Committee of the North
Korea Branch of the Communist Party (Dec.
1945) |
4,530 |
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Inaugural Congress of the NKWP (Aug. 1946) |
366,000 |
12,000 |
2nd Congress of the NKWP (Mar. 1948) |
725,762 |
29,762 |
5th Summary Congress of the NKWP Central
Committee (Dec. 1952) |
1,000,000 |
48,933 |
3rd Congress of the KWP (Apr. 1956) |
1,164,945 |
58,258 |
4th Congress of the KWP (Sep. 1961) |
1,311,563¹ |
65,000 |
20th Anniversary of the KWP (Oct. 1965) |
1,600,000 (est.) |
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5th Congress of the KWP (Nov. 1970) |
1,730,000 (est.) |
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Aug. 29, 1972 Issue of the “Nodong Simmun” |
2,000,000 (est.) |
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Jan. 29, 1978 Issue of the “Nodong Simmun” |
2,000,000 (est.) |
200,000 |
6th Congress of the KWP (Oct. 1980) |
3,220,000 (est.) |
210,000 (est.) |
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Education |
Party committees on every administrative level
are equipped with cadre training and re-education
systems, whose purpose is enhancing the skills of
Party members and the management of personnel. The
highest central educational facility is the ‘Kim
Il-sung Advanced Party School’. Admission is granted
only to chiefs or higher-ranking officials of cities
(zones) or counties.
Curriculums vary in duration from one month to five
years. There is a communist university for each
province, while each county has a Party school.
All Party members must receive at least a month
of mandatory re-education every year. Also operational
are the ‘Korea Nodong Simmun (The Korean Workers’
Daily)’ and the ‘KWP Publishing Company’. These
entities provide the media control needed for publicizing
new Party directives as well as conducting the indoctrination,
organization, and mobilization of the people. |
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Peripheral Organizations |
In accordance with the rights of free congregation
and association stipulated in the ‘Socialist Constitution’,
various political parties and civil organizations
exist in North Korea. In reality, all of these peripheral
organizations are supervised and controlled by the
KWP. There are the Social Democrat Party (founded
in November 1945) and the Chondoist Chongu Party
(founded in February 1946), both of which are ‘brother’
parties to the KWP.
The ‘Korean Youth Corps’ and the ‘Kim Il-sung Socialist
Youth Confederation’ are children and youth groups,
while most of the population is enlisted in massive
worker groups such as the ‘General Workers’ Confederation’,
‘Korean Agricultural Workers’ Confederation’ and
the ‘Korea Democratic Confederation of Women’. Religious
groups include the ‘Christian Confederation’, ‘Buddhist
Confederation’, ‘Chondoist Central Directive Committee’,
and the ‘Catholic Confederation’, all of which are
subordinate to the ‘DFRF (Democratic Front for the
Reunification of the Fatherland)’. The DFRF is one
of the three ‘reunification organizations’, along
with the ‘North Korea Conference for Peaceful Reunification’
and the ‘Committee for Peaceful Reunification’.
The KWP Statutes have allotted to these peripheral
organizations the roles of ‘mediator between the
Party and the People’, ‘faithful aide to the Party’,
and ‘indoctrinator of the masses’. |
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