2nd Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea


The 2nd Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea was elected at the 2nd Congress of the WPNK held in March 1948, and consisted of 67 members and 20 deputy members. Upon the merger of the WPNK and the Workers' Party of South Korea in 1949 to form the Workers' Party of Korea, it became the 2nd Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It served until the 3rd Central Committee of the WPK replaced it at the 3rd Congress of the WPK in 1956.

Election

The 2nd Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea was elected at the 4th session of the 2nd Congress of the Workers' Party of North Korea that was held from 27–30 March 1948.
On Ho Ka-i's suggestion, an 11-member committee created a list of nominees for the 2nd Central Committee. With the work done, Kim Il-sung presented 63 nominees for full membership, and 20 for candidate membership. According to Kim Il-sung, the committee chose nominees based on four grounds; if they were outstanding cadres, what position in the government, socialist military or party apparatuses they held, if they were new cadres and at last, former reprimanded communists who were concluded to be "basically good communists." In the order of ranking given to them the nominees stated their personal history to the congress before they were elected; all the nominees for full membership, with the exception of O Ki-sop, were elected unanimously. Of the 990 delegates present, five voted against his candidacy. Similarly, when electing the nominees for candidate membership, only Kim Tu-yong was not elected unanimously, with one vote against.
The 2nd Central Committee was composed in total of 63 new members, 30 of which had served in the 1st Central Committee. Among those not reelected were Choe Yong-dal and Chong Tal-hyon. The position of the partisan faction was strengthened at this congress, with Kang Kon, Kim Kwang-hyop, Kim Kyong-sok and Pak Chum-kol being elected to the Central Committee. Despite this, the largest single group within the 2nd Central Committee were the domestic faction.

1st plenum of the 2nd Central Committee

The 1st Plenary Session of the 2nd Central Committee convened after the 2nd Congress on 30 March. It followed procedure, and elected the 1st Political Committee, of which the party's Chairman and two deputy chairmen had to serve in. Kim To-bong was reelected to the chairmanship, while Kim Il-sung and Chu Yong-ha were reelected deputy chairmen. All the members of the 1st Political Committee were reelected, while two new were added; Kim Chaek, a partisan, and Pak Il-u from the Yanan faction.

Formation of the Workers' Party of Korea

When the Workers' Party of North Korea merged with the Workers' Party of South Korea on 11 June 1949 to form the Workers' Party of Korea, so did their central committees. The 2nd Central Committee was reinforced with the 31-member central committee of the Southern party. No official announcement was made that this was a new central committee, so it continued to operate as the 2nd Central Committee, now of the unified Workers' Party of Korea. Upon the merger, Kim Il-sung replaced Kim Tu-bong as the Chairman of the Central Committee. The 3rd Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea replaced it at the 3rd Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in 1956.

Plenary sessions

As the Workers' Party of North Korea

  1. Kim Tu-bong
  2. Kim Il-sung
  3. Ho Ka-i
  4. Chu Yong-ha
  5. Kim Chaek
  6. Choe Chang-ik
  7. Pak Il-u
  8. Pak Chung-ae
  9. Kim Kyo-yung
  10. Chung Chun-taek
  11. Kim Il
  12. Kim Chae-uk
  13. Kim Yol
  14. Choe Kyong-duk
  15. Kim Min-san
  16. Choe Suk-hyang
  17. Jin Pan-su
  18. Kang Chin-kun
  19. Han Il-mu
  20. Pak Hun-il
  21. Choe Chae-rin
  22. Han Sul-ya
  23. Ri Hi-jun
  24. Kang Kon
  25. Kim Sung-hwa
  26. Ki Suk-bok
  27. Ho Chong-suk
  28. Ri Chung-kon
  29. Thae Song-su
  30. Chan Sun-myong
  31. Kim Un-ki
  32. Kim Ko-mang
  33. Mu Jung
  34. Pak Chang-sik
  35. Ri Puk-myung
  36. Pak Hyo-sam
  37. Kim Sang-chul
  38. Chang Si-u
  39. Chong Du-hyun
  40. O Ki-sup
  41. Song Jae-jun
  42. Kim Jik-hyun
  43. Ri Sun-kun
  44. Kim Kwang-hyup
  45. Ri Jong-ik
  46. Chang Hae-u
  47. Ri Tong-hwa
  48. Im Hae
  49. Chong Il-yong
  50. Pang Hak-se
  51. Cho Yong
  52. Kim Ung
  53. Pak Mu
  54. Kim Yong-su
  55. Chang Chul
  56. Kim Tae-yun
  57. Ri Kon-mu
  58. Kim Kyong-suk
  59. Kim Han-jung
  60. Pak Yong-song
  61. Ri Yu-min
  62. Kim Kwang-bin
  63. Ri Song-un
  64. Pak Kum-chul
  65. Kim Chae
  66. Kim Kun-il
  67. Pak Chang-ok
  68. Ri Sung-yop

    Deputy members

  69. Pak Un-sul
  70. Ri Yung-hwa
  71. Kim Jin-yoe
  72. Chae Kyu-hyang
  73. Ha Ang-chun
  74. Pak Yung-hwa
  75. Pak Tong-cho
  76. Kang Yung-chang
  77. Choe Kwang-yul
  78. Ri Kyu-hwan
  79. Nam Il
  80. Chang Ui-san
  81. Ko Pong-ki
  82. Kim Tae-hwa
  83. Kae Tong-sun
  84. Ri Chi-chan
  85. Ri Yung-jin
  86. Choe Pong-su
  87. Ri Hyo-sun

    Works cited