National meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea

The following is a list of national meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea. This article defines national meetings as party congresses (Korean: 조선로동당 당대회) and conferences of representatives.

The party Congress is nominally the highest body of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) according to its charter.[1] The charter stated specifically that it should convene at least every fifth year, however, the congress has never managed to be convened in that time frame.[2] There was a gap of 36 years between the 6th Congress and the 7th Congress. However, two party conferences were convened in the period 2010–2012.[2] The 3rd Party Conference in 2010 formally deleted the five-year clause from the party charter,[3] but it was later restored at the 8th Congress in 2021.[4]

The Congress hears the reports of central authorities, makes amendments to the party's charter, sets the party's political line,[5] elects the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, elects the Central Committee and elects the Central Auditing Commission. The 1st Plenary Session of the elected Central Committee then elects the Politburo, the Secretariat, the Central Military Commission and other bodies of the Central Committee.[2] Despite this, as Fyodor Tertitskiy notes, "When it comes to the supreme leader of North Korea, it is not his position that makes him a leader, it is the person who makes a position one of leadership. Kim Jong-un may be called supreme commander, first chairman or even God-Emperor – it does not matter, he is in charge by right of bloodline."[2] His election as Chairman, and other posts, at the 7th Party Congress (or elections to offices at other meetings) does not mean the meeting was empowered to make decisions independent of the leader.[2]

Keys

Abbreviations
CC	Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
FM	Full member (a member with voting rights).
AM	Alternate member (a member without voting rights).
Political Report	Political Report to the Central Committee, a document which briefs delegates about the period since the last congress and future work.
Charter	Charter of the Workers' Party of Korea, the rules and regulations which governs the WPK.
PMR	Party members represented at the congress by delegates (the party membership at the time).
ND	Not disclosed by the WPK.

Meetings

Congresses

Congress	Duration (start—end)	Delegates	CC elected	Political Report (presented by)	Charter	PMR	Location
1st Congress 3 days 1946 election	28 August – 30 August 1946	801	43	Kim Il-sung	Adopted	336,399	Pyongyang
2nd Congress 4 days 1947–1948 election	27 March – 30 March 1948	999	63	Kim Il-sung	Amendment	750,000	Pyongyang
3rd Congress 7 days 1955–1956 election	23 April – 29 April 1956	916	71 FM – 43 AM	Kim Il-sung	Amendment	1,164,945	Pyongyang
4th Congress 8 days 1960–1961 election	11 September – 18 September 1961	1,657 VD – 93 NVD	85 FM – 50 AM	Kim Il-sung	Amendment	1,311,563	Pyongyang
5th Congress 12 days 1969–1970 election	2 November – 13 November 1970	1,734	117 FM – 55 AM	Kim Il-sung	Amendment	1,600,000	Pyongyang
6th Congress 5 days 1979–1980 election	10 October – 14 October 1980	3,062 VD – 137 NVD	145 FM – 103 AM	Kim Il-sung	Amendment	ND	April 25 House of Culture Pyongyang
7th Congress 4 days 2016 election	6 May – 9 May 2016	3,467 VD – 200 NVD	129 FM – 106 AM	Kim Jong-un	Amendment	ND	April 25 House of Culture Pyongyang
8th Congress 6 days 2020–21 election	5 January – 10 January 2021	TBD	TBD	Kim Jong-un	Amendment	TBD	April 25 House of Culture Pyongyang

Conferences

Conference	Duration (start—end)	CC elected	Charter (amendments)	Decisions
1st Conference 4 days 1958 election	3 March – 6 March 1958	—	—	1) "On First Five-year People’s Economic Development Plan" 2) "On Further Strengthening Party Unity and Cohesion" 3) On "organizational issues"
2nd Conference 4 days 1966 election	3 October – 6 October 1966	—	—	1) "Current Situation and Our Party's Tasks" 2) "On Imminent Tasks of Socialist Economic Construction" 3) "On the Vietnam Issue"
3rd Conference 1 day 2010 election[6]	28 September 2010	124 FM – 105 AM	Amendment	1) "Decision To Unchangingly Elect High Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong Il as the WPK General Secretary" 2) "Decision on Revising the WPK Charter" 3) "Election of members to the central leadership organs of the WPK"
4th Conference 1 day 2012 election	11 April 2012	—	Amendment	ND

References

Specific

1. Savada, Andrea Matles, ed. (1993). "North Korea – The Korean Workers' Party (KWP)". North Korea: A Country Study. Library of Congress Country Studies. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
2. Tertitskiy, Fyodor (May 2, 2016). "What happens at a North Korean Party Conference or Congress". NK News. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
3. Gause, Ken E., ed. (2011). North Korea Under Kim Chong-il: Power, Politics, and Prospects for Change. Praeger Pub Text. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
4. "Historical Event Laying Foundation for Developing Glorious Party. Fifth-day Sitting of 8th WPK Congress Held". KCNA. January 10, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
5. Kim 1982, p. 126.
6. Frank, Ruediger (October 5, 2010). "Hu Jintao, Deng Xiaoping or Another Mao Zedong? Power Restructuring in North Korea". 38 North. U.S.-Korea Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Retrieved April 22, 2018.

Bibliography

Articles and journals:

• 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.

General

Information on congresses & conferences, number of delegates, number of people elected to CCs, party membership, the individual who presented the Political Report and information on when the congress was convened can be found in these sources:

• Beck, Peter (2011). "North Korea in 2010: Provocations and Succession". Asian Survey. University of California Press. 51 (1): 33–40. doi:10.1525/as.2011.51.1.33. JSTOR 10.1525/as.2011.51.1.33.
• Ilpyong, Kim (Spring 1962). "North Korea's Fourth Party Congress". Pacific Affairs. University of British Columbia. 35 (1): 37–52. doi:10.2307/2752710. JSTOR 2752710.
• Suh, Dae-sook (1988). Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader (1st ed.). Columbia University Press. pp. 75–80 (1st Congress), 83–91 (2nd Congress), 145–148 (3rd Congress) & 169–173 (4th Congress). ISBN 978-0231065733.
• Rüdiger, Frank (May 20, 2016). "The 7th Party Congress in North Korea: A Return to a New Normal". 38 North. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
• "North Korea -- Propaganda Coverage of Party Representatives Conferences" (PDF). Open Source Centre. April 10, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2017. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)