Cabinet of North Korea

The Cabinet of Democratic People's Republic of Korea or North Korea (Naegak[1]) is, according to the Constitution of North Korea, the administrative and executive body and a general state-management organ in the Government of North Korea.[2] The Cabinet's principal newspaper is Minju Choson.

Cabinet of North Korea
Government overview
Formed1948
JurisdictionNorth Korea
HeadquartersPyongyang
Government executives
WebsiteMinju Choson, the official newspaper of the Cabinet Edit this at Wikidata
Politics of North Korea
Constitution
Workers' Party of Korea
Congress (8th)
Supreme People's Assembly
14th term
State Affairs Commission
14th term
Cabinet
14th term
Elections
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations
Related topics
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History
The cabinet, headed by Kim Il Sung, visiting Moscow in 1949

In North Korea's first constitution, adopted in 1948, the executive powers were vested in the Cabinet, chaired by Kim Il Sung himself.

The 1972 constitution saw the establishment of the post of President of North Korea which led the executive branch, and the cabinet was split into two organizations: The Central People's Committee (Korean: 중앙인민위원회) and the State Administration Council (Korean: 정무원). The Central People's Committee provided the highest visible institutional link between the government and the party and served in effect as a de facto super-cabinet. According to the 1972 constitution, the Central People's Committee exercised various functions and powers such as shaping the internal and external policies of the state, direct the work of the Administration Council and provincial people's committee, supervising the execution of the constitution, laws and ordinances of the Supreme People's Assembly, establish or abolish ministries, executive bodies of the Administration Council and appoint or remove vice premiers, ministers and other members of the Administration Council and also to declare a state of war and enacting mobilization orders in case of emergency. Article 104 gave the authority to the CPC to adopt decrees and decisions and issue directives.[3]

The National Defence Commission was then sub-committee of this body.[4] The CPC's formal powers were all-inclusive and it was chaired by the President.[5] Among its responsibilities are formulating domestic and foreign policies, directing the work of the State Administration Council and its local organs, directing the judiciary, ensuring the enforcement of the constitution and other laws, appointing or removing the vice premiers and cabinet members, establishing or changing administrative subdivisions or their boundaries, and ratifying or abolishing treaties signed with foreign countries. The CPC also may issue decrees, decisions, and instructions. The State Administration Council was guided by the CPC and was led by a premier (chong-ri) and included vice premiers (bochong-ri), ministers (boojang), committee chairmen, and other cabinet-level members of central agencies. It was responsible for the formulation of state economic development plans and measures for implementing them, the preparation of the state budget, and the handling of other monetary and fiscal matters.[6]

1982 saw the People's Armed Forces and Public Security Ministries assigned directly to the President together with the State Inspection Commission.

In 1990, by a CPC decision, the National Defense Commission became fully independent from it as a separate institution, and 1992 constitutional amendments assigned it directly to the Supreme People's Assembly. In 1998 amendments to the Constitution, the Central People's Committee and the State Administration were abolished, and the Cabinet was re-created. Thus, the Cabinet is not only the highest executive enforcement organ but was also expanded to become the general State management organ.

Emphasizing its expanded role, in January 1999 Kim Jong Il stated that

"The party organizations and party cadres should not intervene in administrative matters. The party should help the cabinet to be responsible for all economic affairs. Last year we made a new governmental system where the cabinet is supposed to be the control tower of the economy...No organizational unit should handle economic problems without consulting the cabinet".[7]

Selection

The cabinet is appointed and accountable to the Supreme People's Assembly, the North Korean unicameral parliament. The SPA chooses the Premier of North Korea who appoints three vice premiers and the cabinet's ministers. All members of the cabinet are members of the Workers' Party of Korea which rules the country since its establishment in 1948. While the SPA is not in session, the cabinet is accountable to the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly.[8]

As of 2000, some 260 people have served as cabinet ministers. Six of them have been women:[9] Ho Jong-suk (Minister of Culture, Justice), Pak Chong-ae (Agriculture), Yi Yang-suk (Commerce, Textile and Paper Industries), Pak Yong-sin (Culture), Yi Ho-hyok (Foodstuff and Daily Necessities Industries), and Yun Gi-jong (Finance).[10]

Powers and responsibilities

The Cabinet, as the executive branch of the North Korean state, is responsible for implementing the state's economic policies, as guided by the Workers' Party. The cabinet is not responsible for defense and security issues, as those are handled by the State Affairs Commission. Thus, the security organizations such as the Korean People's Army, Ministry of Social Security and State Security Department report and subordinated directly to the SAC, whose chairman holds full power as the supreme leader of the republic and the party and overall commander-in-chief of all uniformed forces. The Cabinet convenes a plenary meeting and an executive meeting.[11] The plenary meeting consists of all the Cabinet members, while the executive meeting is kind of a presidium, and comprises fewer people, including the Premier, vice premier and other Cabinet members whom the Premier nominates. The cabinet forms acts in the form of decisions and directives. In the performance of its mandate the Cabinet is empowered by the Constitution to:[12]

  • adopt measures to execute state policy.
  • institute, amend, and supplement regulations concerning state management based on the Constitution and ministerial laws.
  • guide the work of the Cabinet commissions, ministries, direct ministries and subordinate agencies of the Cabinet and the local people's committees
  • set up and remove direct ministries and agencies, main administrative economic organizations, and enterprises, and adopt measures to improve the State management structure.
  • draft the State plan for the development of the national economy and adopt measures to put it into effect.
  • compile the State budget and adopt measures to implement it.
  • organize and exercise works in the fields of industry, agriculture, construction, transportation, communications, commerce, trade, land management, city management, education, science, culture, health, physical training, labor administration, environmental protection, tourism and others.
  • adopt measures to strengthen the monetary and banking system.
  • do inspection and control work to establish a state management order.
  • adopt measures to maintain social order, protect State and social cooperation body's possession and interests, and to guarantee citizens’ rights.
  • conclude treaties with foreign countries, and conduct external activities.
  • abolish decisions and directions by economic administrative organs, which run counter to the decisions or directions made by its members.

Those Cabinet ministries that oversee economic sectors also control groups of industries called "complexes". These complexes consist of partially or fully state-owned industrial facilities like factories, mines, or farms, depending on the sector.[13] At a local level, the Cabinet supervises the Local People's Committees.

Structure
Further information: 14th Cabinet of North Korea

As of 28 September 2023, the Cabinet consists of the following:[14][15][16][17][18][19][20]

Minister Political party Position Ref
Kim Tok-hun Workers' Party of Korea [21]
Pak Jong-gun Workers' Party of Korea
Jon Hyon-chol Workers' Party of Korea
Kim Song-ryong Workers' Party of Korea
Ri Song-hak Workers' Party of Korea
Pak Hun Workers' Party of Korea
Ju Chol-gyu Workers' Party of Korea
Kim Kum-chol Workers' Party of Korea
  • Secretary-General
Choe Son-hui Workers' Party of Korea [22][23]
Kim Yu-il Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Electric Power Industry
Jon Hak-chol Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Coal Industry
Kim Chung-gol Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Metallurgical Industry
Ma Jong-son Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Chemical Industry
Jang Chung-song Workers' Party of Korea
Kang Jong-gwan Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Land and Maritime Transportation
Kim Chol-su Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Mining Industry
Kim Chung-song Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of State Natural Resources Development
Ko Kil-son Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Oil Industry
Han Ryong-guk Workers' Party of Korea
An Kyong Gun Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Machine-Building Industry
 [24]
Kang Chol-gu Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Shipbuilding
Wang Chang-uk Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Nuclear Power Industry
Kim Jae-song Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Electronics Industry
Ju Yong-il Workers' Party of Korea
So Jong-jin Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Construction and Building-Materials Industry
Ri Sun Chol Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of State Construction Control
 [24]
Jang Kyong-il Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Light Industry
Jo Yong-chol Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Local Industry
Ri Kang-son
  • Minister of Consumer Goods Industry
Song Chun-sop Workers' Party of Korea
Ko Jong-bom Workers' Party of Korea
Jin Kum-song Workers' Party of Korea
Yun Jong-ho Workers' Party of Korea
Ri Tu Il Workers' Party of Korea
  • Chairman of State Commission of Science and Technology
 [23]
Kim Sung-jin Workers' Party of Korea
Jon Chol Su Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Land and Environment Protection
  • Director of the Supervisory Bureau of Forestry Policy of the State Affairs Commission
 [24]
Im Kyong-jae Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Urban Management
Kim Kwang Jin Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Food Procurement and Administration
 [24]
Kwak Jong Jun Workers' Party of Korea [23]
Kim Sung-du Workers' Party of Korea
  • Chairman of the Education Commission
Kim Sung Chan Workers' Party of Korea [25]
Choe Kyong-chol Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Public Health
Sung Jong-gyu Workers' Party of Korea
Kim Il-guk Workers' Party of Korea
  • Minister of Physical Culture and Sports
Paek Min Gwang Workers' Party of Korea [24]
Ri Chol-san Workers' Party of Korea

See also

References
  1. "The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency: Korea, North. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  2. Article 123 of the Constitution of North Korea
  3. Dae-Sook Suh & Chae-Jin Lee. Political Leadership in Korea. The 1972 Constitution and Top Communist Leaders, p. 197
  4. Article 105 of the 1972 Constitution
  5. Articles 100-106 of the 1972 Constitution of North Korea
  6. A Country Study: North Korea- 1993- Library of Congress
  7. Jae-Cheon Lim. Kim Jong-il's Leadership of North Korea, p. 116
  8. Article 125 of the Constitution of North Korea
  9. Lankov, Andrei (2015). The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-19-939003-8.
  10. Park, Kyung Ae (1994). "Women and Revolution in South and North Korea". In Tétreault, Mary Ann (ed.). Women and Revolution in Africa, Asia, and the New World. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-1-57003-016-1.
  11. Article 121 of the Constitution of North Korea
  12. Article 119 of the Constitution of North Korea
  13. Madden, Michael (16 January 2019). "The DPRK Political Season: Two Post-Mortems". 38 North. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  14. "Members of DPRK Cabinet Appointed". KCNA Watch. 18 January 2021.
  15. "Report on 5th Plenary Meeting of 7th C.C., WPK". KCNA Watch. 1 January 2020.
  16. "Press Release of 8th Congress of WPK". KCNA Watch. 11 January 2021.
  17. "North Korea picks army man who led Korean talks as top envoy". The Straits Times. Bloomberg. 19 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  18. "Kim Jong Un sacks foreign minister, says report". Financial Times. 19 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  19. Johnson, Jesse (2020-01-19). "North Korea ditches top diplomat in reshuffle that could impact nuclear talks". The Japan Times Online. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  20. "In full: promotions and demotions at North Korea's 14th SPA". NK PRO. Korea Risk Group. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  21. New Premier of DPRK Cabinet Appointed
  22. "N. Korea appoints veteran diplomat as first female foreign minister". France 24. 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  23. "North Korea appoints first female Foreign Minister". THE VOICE OF VIETNAM. 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  24. "Members of DPRK Cabinet Newly Appointed". Rodong Sinmun. 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  25. Yuna, Ha (2021-07-08). "The reason why the president of Kim Il Sung University was replaced recently | Daily NK English". Retrieved 2023-10-01.
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