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North Korea PARTY LEADERSHIP AND ELITE RECRUITMENT
The party congress, the highest KWP organ, meets
infrequently. As of mid-1993, the most recently held congress was
the Sixth Party Congress of October 1980. The official agent of
the party congress is the Central Committee. As of July 1991, the
Sixth Party Congress Central Committee had 329 members: 180 full
members and 149 alternate members. Nearly 40 percent of these
members, 131 members, are first-termers. Among the 329 members,
the technocrats--economists, managers, and technicians--are the
most numerous.
Influence and prestige within the party power structure are
directly associated with the rank order in which the members of
the Central Committee are listed. Key posts in party, government,
and economic organs are assigned; higher-ranking Central
Committee members also are found in the armed forces, educational
and cultural institutions, and other social and mass
organizations. Many leaders concurrently hold multiple positions
within the party, the government, and the military.
The Central Committee holds a plenum, or plenary session, at
least once every six months to discuss major issues. The plenum
also elects the general secretary, members of the Political
Bureau (called the Political Committee until October 1980), and
its Standing Committee, or Presidium, which was established in
October 1980.
In early 1981, the Political Bureau had thirty-four members:
nineteen regular members and fifteen alternate members. This
figure was substantial increase in membership from the Fifth
Party Congress, when there were eleven regular members and five
alternate members. As of 1992, however, the Political Bureau had
only twenty-four members--fourteen regular members and ten
alternate members--because a number of the members either had
died or had stepped down. The inner circle of powerful leaders
within the Political Bureau include the president, premier, vice
premiers, and minister of the people's armed forces.
Several central organizations are subordinate to the
Political Bureau Presidium. One of the most important executive
organs is the Secretariat of the Central Committee, led by
General Secretary Kim Il Sung and eleven other secretaries as of
mid-1992. Each secretary is in charge of one or more departmental
party functions. Other key bodies include the Central Military
Commission headed by Kim Il Sung; the Central Auditing Committee,
the fiscal watchdog of the party; and the Central Inspection
Committee, which enforces party discipline and acts as a trial
and appeals board for disciplinary cases.
The various departments of the Secretariat of the Central
Committee depend for implementation of party policies and
directives on the party committees in the provincial- and countylevel administrative divisions and in organizations where there
are more than 100 party members--for example, major enterprises,
factories, government offices, military units, and schools. In
the countryside, village party committees are formed with a
minimum of fifty party members. The basic party units are cells
to which all party members belong and through which they
participate in party organizational activities. Attendance at
cell meetings and party study sessions, held at least once a
week, is mandatory.
Data as of June 1993
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