The Eternal leaders of North Korea, officially the Eternal leaders of ''Juche'' Korea, refers to the practice of granting posthumous titles to deceased

leaders Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. The official title was established by a line in the preamble to the Constitution, as amended on 30 June 2016, and in subsequent revisions. It reads (in the original version):

History of the title

Presidency of North Korea before 1994

The post of "President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" was established in the

Constitution of North Korea The Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea () is the constitution of North Korea. It was approved by the 6th Supreme People's Assembly at its first session on 27 December 1972, and has been amended and supplemented ...

in 1972. Until then,

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 ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

held the posts of premier and general secretary of the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...

. 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 A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

, 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"

The revised constitution in 1998 abolished the presidency and declared Kim Il-sung "eternal President". The preamble of the Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as amended on 5 September 1998 reads: The president was the ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

of North Korea, but whose powers were exercised by the "sacred leader" of the nation's state ideology called ''

Juche ''Juche'' ( ; ), officially the ''Juche'' idea (), is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and f ...

''. 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 The ''Juche'' calendar, named after the ''Juche'' ideology, is the system of year-numbering used in North Korea. It begins with the birth of Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea. His birth year, 1912 in the Gregorian calendar, is "''Juche'' ...

dating from 1912, the year of Kim Il-sung's birth. The 2012 Constitution once again referred to Kim Il-sung as the "eternal President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea".

"Eternal General Secretary" / "Eternal Chairman"

After the

death of Kim Jong-il The death of Kim Jong-il was reported by North Korean state television news on 19 December 2011. The presenter Ri Chun-hee announced that he had died on 17 December at 8:30 am of a massive heart attack while travelling by train to an area ou ...

, 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. The title of party leader was changed to " first secretary", although in 2021 it was renamed "General Secretary". In 2016, the title "eternal leaders of Juche Korea" was introduced by amending the preamble of the constitution, which was given to

and Kim Jong-il.

Head of state role in North Korea after the death of Kim Il-sung

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 The Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly () is the presiding officer of the Supreme People's Assembly, the legislature of North Korea.Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Article 94 The Supreme People's Ass ...

chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly The chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (), formerly known as the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Ko ...

; and the head of the military, the

chairman of the National Defence Commission The President of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea () is the head of state of North Korea.Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Article 100 The president chairs the State A ...

(replaced by

State Affairs Commission of North Korea The State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (SAC) is defined by the 2016 constitution as "the supreme policy-oriented leadership body of State power." The current president of the SAC, which is defined by the same ...

in 2016) and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army. These positions are currently held by

Kim Tok-hun Kim Tok-hun (, born 1961) is a North Korean politician serving as the Premier of North Korea since August 2020. He is also a full member on the Presidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea and served as the chief of the parliamenta ...

Choe Ryong-hae Choe Ryong-hae (born 15 January 1950) is a North Korean politician and military officer who currently serves as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and First Vice President of the State Affairs Commission, holding ...

, and Kim Jong-un respectively.

References

Bibliography

* {{Kim Jong-il 1998 in North Korea Government of North Korea Kim Il-sung Kim Jong-il Posthumous recognitions