Workers Party of North Korea
Encyclopedia
The Workers Party of North Korea (1946–1949) was a communist party
in North Korea
, a predecessor of the current Workers Party of Korea. It was founded at a congress on August 28–30, 1946, by the merger of the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea
and the New People's Party
. Kim Tu-bong
, the leader of the New People's Party, was elected Chairman of the party. Vice Chairmen of the party were Chu Nyong-ha and Kim Il-sung
. At the time of establishment, the party is believed to have had about 366 000 members organized in around 12,000 party cells.
in the years following the Second World War, such as the formation of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
and the Hungarian Working People's Party. The merger of the two parties was not uncomplicated. Between the two there were differences in terms of social background of cadres and ideological profiles. The New People's Party had a significant following of intellectuals whereas the Communist Party was mainly based amongst workers and peasants. Moreover, the Korean communists had been riddled by internal differences, and different communist fractions were present in the new unified party. At the time of the founding of the new party discussions emerged on the role of Marxism-Leninism
as the ideological foundation of the party. At the inaugural congress of the party, Kim Il-sung stated that "…the Workers Party is a combat unit and the vanguard of the working masses. We must fight with our utmost to maintain the Party's purity, unity, and iron discipline. If we were to fight against the enemy without meeting these conditions within our ranks, it would be nothing less than folly.", arguing in favor of maintaining a Marxist-Leninist orientation.
.
The factions were represented proportionately in the leading bodies of the party. In the first politburo
of the party the Soviet fraction had three members, the Yanan fraction had six, the domestic fraction had two and the guerilla fraction had two. The guerilla faction was actually the smallest of the fractions in the Central Committee
but they had the advantage of having Kim Il-sung, who led the North Korean government and was highly influential within the party. Moreover, Kim Il-Sung was backed by the Soviet Union.
Both parties had belonged to the North Korean Fatherland United Democratic Front, and the unified party became a dominant force in the front after the merger. The party held 36% of the seats in the People's Assembly of North Korea and Kim Tu-bong became the Chairman of the Assembly. Kim Il-sung became the Chairman of the People's Committee of North Korea, the provisional government structure. In the Village People's Committee and Ward People's Committee elections of 1947, 57.7% of the 70 454 seats were held by members of the Workers Party.
At the meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Party on September 16, 1947, Kim Il-sung gave a speech of the cultural policy of the party. The speech was later published as 'On Developing Literature and the Arts and Activating Mass Cultural Work', and remains the basis for cultural policy in the DPRK.
The party held its second congress from 27 March to 30 March 1948. By the time of the second party congress, the party claimed 725,762 members, organized in 29,762 party cells.
At the second party congress, leading members of the 'domestic' communist fraction such as O Ki-sop, Chong Tal-hyon, Ch'oe Yong-dal and Yi Pong-su were attacked by Kim Il-sung. O Ki-sop was re-elected to the party central committee
, but relegated to a post in a minor government enterprise.
Addressing the congress, Kim Il-sung stated in his attack on the 'domestic' fraction that "Our Party recognised that in order to carry out the proper political duties the scattered and organisationally weak local and provincial organisations must be united under a strong central organisation in North Korea. Hence it was decided in the middle of October 1945, that the North Korean Central Committee of the Korean Communist Party be established. But some of the comrades in the Party were captivated by the sectarianism of the past. They were living, just as in the past, the life of egocentricity and self-importance, confined within their small local groups, without carrying out any Party work or obeying superior organisations. Therefore, leaders of these small groups, whose vision was adjusted to their caves and who were addicted to individual heroism, opposed the establishment of the North Korean Central Bureau on the excuse that they "support the central headquarters (in Seoul)." In order to hide their schemes, [they] alleged that "establishment of the North Korean branch would result in dividing the Party.""
met in early September 1948, 102 out of 212 delegates came from the Workers Party. The Supreme People's Assembly declared the foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, with Workers Party Vice-Chairman Kim Il-sung as its prime minister.
On June 30, 1949 the party merged with the Workers Party of South Korea
, forming the Workers Party of Korea.
, the North Korean General Federation of Labour Unions, the Democratic Women's Union of North Korea and the North Korean Federation of the Peasants Associations. The formation of these organizations had preceded the foundation of the party in August 1946. The party also managed a Consumers' Cooperative Society.
and Kunroja. The decision to start these publications was taken at the first party congress. Rodong Sinmun was the mass newspaper of the party, whereas Kunroja was the theoretical magazine of the party. Both organs were later taken over by the Workers Party of Korea.
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
in North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, a predecessor of the current Workers Party of Korea. It was founded at a congress on August 28–30, 1946, by the merger of the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea
Communist Party of Korea
Communist Party of Korea was a communist party in Korea. It was founded during a secret meeting in Seoul in 1925. The Japanese colonial regime had banned communist parties under the Peace Preservation Law , so the party had to operate in a clandestine manner...
and the New People's Party
New People's Party (Korea)
New People's Party was a communist party in Korea. It was formed on 16 February 1946 by Korean Communists who had been exiled in China. New People's Party had more moderate positions in some issues compared with the Communist Party of North Korea, therefore it was rather popular at wide range of...
. Kim Tu-bong
Kim Tu-bong
Kim Tu-bong was a Korean linguist and politician. He formed the New People's Party. After the New People's Party merged into the Workers Party of North Korea in 1946, he became Chairman of the Workers Party. He was the first head of state of North Korea from 1948 to 1957...
, the leader of the New People's Party, was elected Chairman of the party. Vice Chairmen of the party were Chu Nyong-ha and Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung was a Korean communist politician who led the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death...
. At the time of establishment, the party is believed to have had about 366 000 members organized in around 12,000 party cells.
Merger
The merger of the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea and the New People's Party can be seen as analogous to similar mergers taking place in Eastern EuropeEastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
in the years following the Second World War, such as the formation of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
and the Hungarian Working People's Party. The merger of the two parties was not uncomplicated. Between the two there were differences in terms of social background of cadres and ideological profiles. The New People's Party had a significant following of intellectuals whereas the Communist Party was mainly based amongst workers and peasants. Moreover, the Korean communists had been riddled by internal differences, and different communist fractions were present in the new unified party. At the time of the founding of the new party discussions emerged on the role of Marxism-Leninism
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
as the ideological foundation of the party. At the inaugural congress of the party, Kim Il-sung stated that "…the Workers Party is a combat unit and the vanguard of the working masses. We must fight with our utmost to maintain the Party's purity, unity, and iron discipline. If we were to fight against the enemy without meeting these conditions within our ranks, it would be nothing less than folly.", arguing in favor of maintaining a Marxist-Leninist orientation.
Factionalism
Roughly speaking, the party consisted of four separate internal factions, the Soviet Koreans faction, the Domestic faction, the Yanan (or Chinese) faction and the Guerrilla faction. These factional divisions were largely inherited from the Communist Party of Korea, and one of them (the 'domestic' faction) was also prevalent in the Workers Party of South KoreaWorkers Party of South Korea
The Workers Party of South Korea was a communist party in South Korea from 1946 to 1949. It was founded on November 23, 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of South Korea, New People's Party of South Korea and a fraction of the People's Party of Korea...
.
- The Soviet Koreans, led by Alexei Ivanovich HegayAlexei Ivanovich HegayAlexei Ivanovich Hegay was a Soviet political operative in North Korea and leader of the Soviet Korean faction within the early political structure of North Korea...
, were made up of waves of ethnic Koreans who were born or raised in Russia after their families moved there starting in the 1870s. Some of them had returned to Korea covertly as Communist operatives in the twenties and thirties but most were members of the Red ArmyRed ArmyThe Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
or civilians who were stationed in North Korea following World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Many came as translators or as Russian language instructors. This grouping had played an important role in building up the party structure of the Communist Party in Pyongyang directly after the Second World War.
- The Domestic fraction, were Korean Communists who never left the country but engaged in a struggle against the Japanese occupation. Many members of the domestic faction had spent time in Japanese military prisons as a result of their activities. Prominent members of this fraction were 0 Ki-sop, Chong Tal-hyon, Yi Chu-ha, Chu Nyong-ha (Vice Chairman of the party), Kim Yong-bom, Pak Chong-ae, Chang Shi-u and Yi Chu-yon. This grouping was politically tied to the old leadership of the Communist Party of Korea based in SeoulSeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, at this point represented by the Workers Party of South KoreaWorkers Party of South KoreaThe Workers Party of South Korea was a communist party in South Korea from 1946 to 1949. It was founded on November 23, 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of South Korea, New People's Party of South Korea and a fraction of the People's Party of Korea...
led by Pak Hon-yongPak Hon-yongPak Hon-yong was a Korean independence activist, politician, philosopher and Communist activist. One of the main leaders of the Korean communist movement during Japan's colonial rule . his nickname was Ijung.During the Japanese occupation of Korea, he tried to organize the Korean Communist Party...
.
- The Yanan faction, led first by Mu Chong and then by Kim Tu-bong and Choe Chang-ik, were those Korean exiles who had lived in China's ShaanxiShaanxi' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
province and joined the Communist Party of ChinaCommunist Party of ChinaThe Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
whose regional headquarters were at Yanan. They had formed their own party, the North-Chinese League for the Independence of Korea, and when they returned to North Korea from exile they formed the New People's Party. Many members of the Yanan faction had fought in the Chinese 8th and New 4th Armies and thus had close relations with Mao ZedongMao ZedongMao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
.
- The Guerilla faction, led by Kim Il-sung, was made up of former Korean guerillas who had been active in ManchuriaManchuriaManchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
after it was occupied by Japan in 1931. Many in this group ended up fleeing Manchuria, as their armed resistance was suppressed, and moved to the Soviet Union where many of them, including Kim, were drafted into the Red ArmyRed ArmyThe Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
.
The factions were represented proportionately in the leading bodies of the party. In the first politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
of the party the Soviet fraction had three members, the Yanan fraction had six, the domestic fraction had two and the guerilla fraction had two. The guerilla faction was actually the smallest of the fractions in the Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
but they had the advantage of having Kim Il-sung, who led the North Korean government and was highly influential within the party. Moreover, Kim Il-Sung was backed by the Soviet Union.
United Front and participation in government
At the meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Party on September 16, 1947, Kim Il-sung gave a speech of the cultural policy of the party. The speech was later published as 'On Developing Literature and the Arts and Activating Mass Cultural Work', and remains the basis for cultural policy in the DPRK.
Second Congress
In early 1947, a purge was undertaken against the 'domestic' communist fraction. Between 40,000–60,000 party members were expelled.The party held its second congress from 27 March to 30 March 1948. By the time of the second party congress, the party claimed 725,762 members, organized in 29,762 party cells.
At the second party congress, leading members of the 'domestic' communist fraction such as O Ki-sop, Chong Tal-hyon, Ch'oe Yong-dal and Yi Pong-su were attacked by Kim Il-sung. O Ki-sop was re-elected to the party central committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
, but relegated to a post in a minor government enterprise.
Addressing the congress, Kim Il-sung stated in his attack on the 'domestic' fraction that "Our Party recognised that in order to carry out the proper political duties the scattered and organisationally weak local and provincial organisations must be united under a strong central organisation in North Korea. Hence it was decided in the middle of October 1945, that the North Korean Central Committee of the Korean Communist Party be established. But some of the comrades in the Party were captivated by the sectarianism of the past. They were living, just as in the past, the life of egocentricity and self-importance, confined within their small local groups, without carrying out any Party work or obeying superior organisations. Therefore, leaders of these small groups, whose vision was adjusted to their caves and who were addicted to individual heroism, opposed the establishment of the North Korean Central Bureau on the excuse that they "support the central headquarters (in Seoul)." In order to hide their schemes, [they] alleged that "establishment of the North Korean branch would result in dividing the Party.""
Foundation of DPRK and merger into the Workers Party of Korea
When the Supreme People's AssemblySupreme People's Assembly
The Supreme People's Assembly is the unicameral parliament of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , commonly known as North Korea...
met in early September 1948, 102 out of 212 delegates came from the Workers Party. The Supreme People's Assembly declared the foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, with Workers Party Vice-Chairman Kim Il-sung as its prime minister.
On June 30, 1949 the party merged with the Workers Party of South Korea
Workers Party of South Korea
The Workers Party of South Korea was a communist party in South Korea from 1946 to 1949. It was founded on November 23, 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of South Korea, New People's Party of South Korea and a fraction of the People's Party of Korea...
, forming the Workers Party of Korea.
Mass organizations
The party managed a wide network of mass organizations, including the Democratic Youth League of North KoreaKim Il Sung Socialist Youth League
Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League is a Korean youth organization. It is the main youth organization in DPR Korea.It was founded by Kim Il-sung on January 17, 1946 as the Democratic Youth League of North Korea. It became the youth wing of the Workers Party of North Korea, later the Workers Party...
, the North Korean General Federation of Labour Unions, the Democratic Women's Union of North Korea and the North Korean Federation of the Peasants Associations. The formation of these organizations had preceded the foundation of the party in August 1946. The party also managed a Consumers' Cooperative Society.
Organs
The party published Rodong SinmunRodong Sinmun
Rodong Sinmun is a North Korean newspaper and the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, published by the Rodong News Agency. It is the most widely read newspaper in the country...
and Kunroja. The decision to start these publications was taken at the first party congress. Rodong Sinmun was the mass newspaper of the party, whereas Kunroja was the theoretical magazine of the party. Both organs were later taken over by the Workers Party of Korea.
External links
- North Korean Workers' Party 65th Anniversary Celebration - slideshow by The Huffington PostThe Huffington PostThe Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...