List of heads of state of North Korea

The following is a list of heads of state of North Korea since its foundation in 1948.

History

For most of its existence, North Korea has not specified a formal head of state. The 1948 constitution did not define a head of state, but with regard to political functions usually performed by the head of state, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) could be considered one. Kim Il Sung was, at the time, as Premier, merely the head of government but not of state. As his position grew more stable, he wanted to be recognized as the head of state instead. Foreign admirers first started calling him such, and in the 1972 constitution his position was formalized as the President of the republic.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>

After Kim Il Sung died in 1994, the presidency and hence the position of head of state was left vacant. While the late leader was titled the Eternal President of North Korea, the actual office of the President was written out of the constitution in 1998 making the head of state undefined again. His son and successor, Kim Jong Il, kept official titles given to him by the late president and never formally became the head of state. During this period, the president of the presidium of the SPA exercised many of the functions normally granted to a head of state, such as receiving ambassadors. Titles used by Kim Jong Un have constitutionally defined him as the Supreme Leader, but not formal head of state.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref> However, amendments to the DPRK constitution in 2019 have granted the chairman of the State Affairs Commission (later renamed to president of the State Affairs), a title held by Kim, the status of representing the state and receiving and appointing ambassadors, effectively making him the head of state.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Heads of state of North Korea (1948–present)

Portrait	Name Template:Small	Term of office			Political party		Election	Supreme leader
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly
	Kim Tu-bong Template:Lang Template:Small	9 September 1948	20 September 1957	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Workers' Party of North Korea	1st SPA	Kim Il Sung
					style="background:Template:Party color |	Workers' Party of Korea
	Choe Yong-gon Template:Lang Template:Small	20 September 1957	28 December 1972	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Korean Social Democratic Party	2nd SPA 3rd SPA 4th SPA
					style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Workers' Party of Korea
President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
	Kim Il Sung Template:Lang Template:Small	28 December 1972	8 July 1994 †	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Workers' Party of Korea	5th SPA 6th SPA 7th SPA 8th SPA 9th SPA	Himself
Vacant Template:Small
President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly
	Kim Yong-nam Template:Lang Template:Small	5 September 1998	9 April 2009	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Workers' Party of Korea	10th SPA 11th SPA	Kim Jong il
Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
	Kim Jong il Template:Lang Template:Small	9 April 2009	17 December 2011	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Workers' Party of Korea	12th SPA	Himself
President of the State Affairs Commission
	Kim Jong Un Template:Lang Template:Small	17 December 2011	Incumbent	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Workers' Party of Korea	13th SPA 14th SPA	Himself

Timeline

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Define $today = {{#time:d/m/Y}}

Colors =

 id:nkwp value:red                 legend:Workers'_Party_of_North_Korea
 id:kwp  value:rgb(0.84,0.08,0.22) legend:Workers'_Party_of_Korea
 id:ksdp value:rgb(0.96,0.77,0.85) legend:Korean_Social_Democratic_Party

 id:gray1  value:gray(0.85)
 id:gray2  value:gray(0.95)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:09/09/1948 till:$today TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1950 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1949

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TextData =

 pos:(20,38) textcolor:black fontsize:M
 text:"Political party:"

BarData =

 bar:tu-bong
 bar:yong-gon
 bar:il-sung
 bar:yong-nam
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 bar:tu-bong from:09/09/1948 till:20/09/1957 color:kwp text:"Kim Tu-bong"
 bar:yong-gon from:20/09/1957 till:05/09/1972 color:kwp text:"Choe Yong-gon"
 bar:il-sung from:05/09/1972 till:08/07/1994 color:kwp text:"Kim Il-sung"
 bar:yong-nam from:05/09/1998 till:09/04/2009 color:kwp text:"Kim Yong-nam"
 bar:jong-il from:09/04/2009 till:17/12/2011 color:kwp text:"Kim Jong-il"
bar:jong-un from:17/12/2011 till:$today color:kwp  text:"Kim Jong Un"

</timeline>

See also

• Supreme Leader (North Korean title)
• Government of North Korea
• Politics of North Korea