Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly
Emblem of North Korea
Flag of North Korea
Incumbent Choe Ryong-hae since 11 April 2019
Appointer	Supreme People's Assembly
Term length	Same as the term of the Supreme People's Assembly
Inaugural holder	Kim Tu-bong
Formation	8 September 1948

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly
Chosŏn'gŭl	최고인민회의 상임위원회 위원장
Hancha	最高人民會議 常任委員會 委員長
Revised Romanization	Choego inmin hoeui sangim wiwonhoe wiwonjang
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'oego inmin hoeŭi sangim wiwŏnhoe wiwŏnjang

The chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국 최고인민회의 상임위원회 위원장), formerly known as the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, which is the highest institution of state power in North Korea when the Supreme People's Assembly is not in session.The current chairman of the Standing Committee is Choe Ryong-hae, who was elected on 11 April 2019.

History

The 1948 Constitution created the position of Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly. The chairman presided over the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, which was given the power to ratify or annul treaties with foreign countries, appoint or recall ambassadors to foreign countries and receive letters of credentials or recall of foreign diplomatic representatives. This made the chairman of the SPA Standing Committee the de jure head of state of North Korea. Nominally, the Chairman of the SPA Standing Committee held the highest state post followed by the premier, Kim Il-sung.

The 1972 Constitution created the position of President of North Korea who is tasked with being the country's head of state. The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly (under the new Korean title of 최고인민회의 상설회의 의장) was removed of its power to represent the state and was limited to doing legislative work as the concurrent chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly.

The 1998 revision of the 1972 Constitution created the position under the new English translation of President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly with its powers as head of state restored. However, the 1972 Constitution was revised in April 2019 to designate the then-Chairman of the State Affairs Commission as the head of state, with the powers reserved to the head of state being transferred to the SAC chairman in August of the same year.

In February 2022, the Chairman of the State Affairs Commission began to be referred in English as the President of the State Affairs. This led to the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly being referred in English to its previous title of Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly.

Duties and responsibilities

According to the North Korean constitution, the chairman presides the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and represents the state in receiving the letters of credentials and recall of foreign diplomatic representatives.

List of office holders

Chairman		Political party		Term start	Term end	SPA
	Kim Tu-bong 김두봉 (1889–1958)		Workers' Party of North Korea (until 1949)	8 September 1948	20 September 1957	1st
			Workers' Party of Korea (from 1949)
	Choe Yong-gon 최용건 (1900–1976)		Workers' Party of Korea	20 September 1957	28 December 1972	2nd 3rd 4th
	Hwang Jang-yop 황장엽 (1923–2010)		Workers' Party of Korea	28 December 1972	7 April 1983	5th 6th 7th
	Yang Hyong-sop 양형섭 (1925–2022)		Workers' Party of Korea	7 April 1983	5 September 1998	7th 8th 9th
	Kim Yong-nam 김영남 (born 1928)		Workers' Party of Korea	5 September 1998	11 April 2019	10th 11th 12th 13th
	Choe Ryong-hae 최룡해 (born 1950)		Workers' Party of Korea	11 April 2019	Incumbent	14th

References

Sources

Works cited

• Cha, Victor D.; Hwang, Balbina Y. (2008). "Government and Politics". In Worden, Robert L. (ed.). North Korea: A Country Study (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. pp. 187–234. ISBN 978-0-8444-1188-0.