Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea

Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea
조선로동당 중앙군사위원회
Agency overview
Jurisdiction	Korean People's Army; Worker-Peasant Red Guards;
Agency executives	Kim Jong Un, Chairman; Vice Marshall Ri Yong-gil, Vice Chairman; Marshall Ri Pyong-chol, Vice Chairman;
Parent agency	Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea

The Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (CMC) (Korean: 조선로동당 중앙군사위원회) is an organ of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) which heads the Korean People's Army (KPA).

One of the CMC's primary functions is to authorize defense and munitions spending and product orders, and to determine how natural resources and products from military-controlled production units are earmarked and distributed domestically and for sale abroad. According to the WPK rules, the CMC directs WPK activities in the KPA and is chaired by the WPK General Secretary. The CMC relies on a number of organizations to carry out its mandate, including the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, the WPK Political Leadership over Military Affairs Department, and the WPK Machine-Building Department.

History

The Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea was established at the 5th plenary meeting of the 4th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea held on 10–14 December 1962.[1][2] During its establishment, it was a committee subordinate to the WPK Central Committee under the full name Military Committee of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

The committee was organized to its present form at the 6th plenary meeting of the 6th WPK Central Committee held on 29–31 August 1982.[3] An amendment to the WPK charter in 1982 is believed to have made the CMC equal to the Central Committee, enabling it (among other things) to elect the WPK leader.[4] The last public listing of the CMC was at the 21st Plenary Session of the 6th Central Committee in December 1993.[5] By the 3rd Conference, seven of its nineteen 1993 members remained; the other twelve had either died, retired or were purged.[5]

The CMC was revitalized at the 3rd Conference in 2010, with Kim Jong Un and Ri Yong-ho elected as deputy chairmen.[5] Except for his Central Committee membership, this was Kim Jong Un's only title at this time; in many ways, the CMC enabled him to develop a patronage network.[5] New members included Vice Marshal Kim Yong-chun (Minister of People's Armed Forces), General Kim Myong-ruk (Chief of the Operation Bureau of the General Staff), General Ri Pyong-chol (Commander of the Korean People's Air Force), Admiral Jong Myong-do (Commander of the Korean People's Navy), Lieutenant General Kim Yong-chol, Colonel General Choe Kyong-song (heads of the KPA's special forces) General Choe Pu-il and Colonel General Choe Sang-ryo (members of the General Staff).[5] Civilians, such as Jang Song-thaek (head of the Administrative Department), also had seats on the commission.[5] However, the overall authority of the CMC was diluted; it was stripped of its authority to command the KPA.[6]

At the 4th Conference, Choe Ryong-hae was appointed CMC deputy chairman; Vice Marshal Hyon Chol-hae, General Ri Myong-su and Kim Rak-gyom were elected to the commission.[7] Kim Jong Un oversaw the CMC regaining its former power, aiming to bring the KPA firmly under party control; the 8th WPK Congress held in 2021 oversaw the CMC being upgraded to "the party’s supreme institution on military guidance", as well as granting it "command over the armed forces of the republic".[6]

Organization

According to the rules of the WPK, the CMC is "the party’s supreme institution on military guidance" and has the authority to "command over the armed forces of the republic".[6] The rules also state that WPK General Secretary is chairman of the CMC ex officio.[8]

Current membership

As of 10 January 2021, the Central Military Commission consists of the chairman, vice chairman, and 11 members.

Chairman
Chairman		Other positions
	Marshal of the DPRK Kim Jong Un 김정은 (born 1984)	General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea Politburo Presidium Member President of the State Affairs Commission Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of North Korea
Vice Chairman
Vice Chairman		Other positions
	Marshal of the KPA Ri Pyong-chol 리병철 (born 1948)	Politburo Presidium Member Secretary of the Central Committee Member of the State Affairs Commission
	Vice Marshal of the KPA Ri Yong-gil 리영길	Politburo Member
Members
Member		Other positions
	Colonel General Jo Yong-won 조용원	Politburo Presidium Member
	Colonel General O Il-jong 오일정 (born 1954)	Politburo Member Secretary of the Central Committee Director of the Military Leadership Department
	Kim Jo-guk 김조국	First Vice Department Director of the Central Committee
	General Kang Sun-nam 강순남	Director of the Munitions Industry Department Minister of National Defense
	O Su-yong 오수용 (born 1944)	Politburo Member Chairman of the Second Economic Committee
	Marshal of the KPA Pak Jong-chon 박정천	Politburo Member Director of the Political Leadership over Military Affairs of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
	Colonel General Kwon Yong-jin 권영진	Politburo Member Director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army
	General Kim Jong-gwan 김정관	Politburo Member Minister of Defence
	Colonel General Jong Kyong-thaek 정경택 (born 1961)	Politburo Member Minister of State Security
	General Rim Kwang-il 림광일 (born 1965)	First Vice Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army Chief of the Reconnaissance General Bureau

References

Citations

"당중앙군사위원회". NKchosun. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
"당중앙위원회 전원회의 - 제4기". NKchosun. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
"[조선노동당] 조선노동당 중앙군사위원회". NK Watch. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
Gause 2013, p. 43.
Gause 2013, p. 35.
Lee, Gee-dong. "The Changing Status and Role of the North Korean Military". Global Asia. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
"Kim Jong Un Appointed "First Secretary" of Korean Workers' Party". North Korea Leadership Watch. April 11, 2012. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
"북한 노동당 규약 주요 개정 내용" [Major Amendments to the Rules of the Workers' Party of Korea]. Yonhap News Agency. June 1, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2023.

Sources

Journal entries

Haggard, Stephen; Herman, Luke; Ryu, Jaesung (July–August 2014). "Political Change in North Korea: Mapping the Succession". Asian Survey. University of California Press. 54 (4): 773–780. doi:10.1525/as.2014.54.4.773. JSTOR 10.1525/as.2014.54.4.773.
Kim, Nam-Sik (Spring–Summer 1982). "North Korea's Power Structure and Foreign Relations: an Analysis of the Sixth Congress of the KWP". The Journal of East Asian Affairs. Institute for National Security Strategy. 2 (1): 125–151. JSTOR 23253510.

Books

Buzo, Adrian (1999). The Guerilla Dynasty: Politics and Leadership in North Korea. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1860644147.
Gause, Ken E. (2011). North Korea Under Kim Chong-il: Power, Politics, and Prospects for Change. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0313381751.
— (2013). "The Role and Influence of the Party Apparatus". In Park, Kyung-ae; Snyder, Scott (eds.). North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 19–46. ISBN 978-1442218123.
Kim, Samuel (2000). "North Korean Informal Politics". Informal Politics in East Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521645387.
Lankov, Andrei (2007). Crisis in North Korea: The Failure of De-Stalinization, 1956. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0824832070.
Suh, Dae-sook (1988). Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader (1st ed.). Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231065736.
Staff writer (2014) [2012]. Understanding North Korea. Ministry of Unification.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

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[1] "당중앙군사위원회". NKchosun. Retrieved July 4, 2019.

[2] "당중앙위원회 전원회의 - 제4기". NKchosun. Retrieved July 4, 2019.

[3] "[조선노동당] 조선노동당 중앙군사위원회". NK Watch. Retrieved July 4, 2019.

[FOOTNOTEGause201343-4] Gause 2013, p. 43.

[FOOTNOTEGause201335-5] Gause 2013, p. 35.

[:6-6] Lee, Gee-dong. "The Changing Status and Role of the North Korean Military". Global Asia. Retrieved June 25, 2023.

[4thconferencepolitburo-7] "Kim Jong Un Appointed "First Secretary" of Korean Workers' Party". North Korea Leadership Watch. April 11, 2012. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2014.

[8] "북한 노동당 규약 주요 개정 내용" [Major Amendments to the Rules of the Workers' Party of Korea]. Yonhap News Agency. June 1, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2023.

Korean People's Army
Active forces	Ground Force Navy Air Force Strategic Force Special Operation Force
Paramilitary and reserve forces	Worker-Peasant Red Guards Red Youth Guards Reserve Military Training Units Social Security Forces
Senior leadership	Supreme Commander Central Military Commission State Affairs Commission (formerly National Defence Commission) Ministry of Defence General Political Bureau General Staff Department Supreme Guard Command Military Security Command Reconnaissance General Bureau
History	Military history of Korea List of militant Korean independence activist organizations Korean People's Revolutionary Army Korean Volunteer Army Naval history of Korea