State Affairs Commission of North Korea

State Affairs Commission of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea

조선민주주의인민공화국 국무위원회
Emblem of the president of the State Affairs Commission
Agency overview
Formed	29 June 2016
Preceding agency	National Defence Commission
Type	Supreme policy-oriented leadership body
Jurisdiction	Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Headquarters	Government Complex No. 1,Pyongyang
Agency executives	Kim Jong Un,President Choe Ryong-hae,Kim Tok-hun,Vice Presidents

DPRK State Affairs Commission
Chosŏn'gŭl	조선민주주의인민공화국 국무위원회
Hancha	Triều Tiên dân chủ chủ nghĩa nhân dân nước cộng hoà uỷ viên quốc hội sẽ
Revised Romanization	Joseon minjujuui inmin gonghwaguk gungmu wiwonhoe
McCune–Reischauer	Chosŏn minjujuŭi inmin konghwaguk kungmu wiwŏnhoe

TheState Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(SAC) is constitutionally the supreme political authority ofNorth Korea.The State Affairs Commission was created by 2016 amendments to theNorth Korean Constitutionto replace the previously military-dominatedNational Defence Commission.

The body is headed by thePresident of the State Affairs Commission,commonly styled in official North Korean released as "President of State Affairs", who is defined as thehead of stateofthe nationand thesupreme leader.

The current President isKim Jong Un.The first vice-president isChoe Ryong-hae,who is also the Chairman of theSupreme People's Assembly Standing Committee.

History

The predecessor body, National Defence Commission, was created in 1972 as sub-committee for defence and security affairs of the Supreme People's Committee, the later was headed by thePresident of the DPRKKim Il Sungand exercised similar powers within the constitutional framework of the1972 Constitution of North Korea.

The National Defence Commission was separated from the Supreme People's Committee in 1992 andKim Jong Ilwas officially designated as chair of the body. In 1998, two years after the death of Kim Il Sung, the National Defence Commission was empowered as the supreme defence body, and in line with theSongun ideology,the supreme political authority of state and legal framework for Kim Jong Il'spersonal dictatorship.

After the7th Congressof theWorkers Party of Korea,the constitution was amended in June 2016 that reformed the National Defence Commission into the contemporary State Affairs Commission, with the amended text stipulating the body's control over national policy.

Powers and responsibilities

Article 106 of theConstitution of North Koreadefines the State Affairs Commission as the supreme state organ of policy direction of state sovereignty.Article 109 of the Constitution states that the SAC's powers are to:

• deliberate and decide on major policies of the State including defence and security policies;
• exercise supervision over the fulfillment of the orders of thePresident of the State Affairs Commissionof the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the decisions and directives of the Commission, and take measures for their fulfillment;
• abrogate decisions and directives of State organs which run counter to the orders of the President of the SAC-DPRK and the decisions and directives of the Commission in its meetings.

In practice, SAC supervises theCabinet of North Korea.It also directly supervises the three ministries that are not under the Cabinet, namely theMinistry of Defence,Ministry of State Securityand theMinistry of Social Securityas well as theKorean People's Army,mainly theGeneral Staff Department of the Korean People's ArmyandGeneral Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army.TheSupreme Guard Commandwhich is responsible for the top leadership and government protection is also under its command. One additional entity, theState Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission(국가체육지도위원회), is also under the SAC as its Chairman is appointed by the Commission.

Members

Main article:14th State Affairs Commission

The following are the current members of the State Affairs Commission as of 29 September 2021:

President of the State Affairs Commission
President		Political party		Member since	Other positions
	Kim Jong Un 김정은 (born 1984)		Workers' Party of Korea	29 June 2016	General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea Member of thePresidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of North Korea
First Vice President of the State Affairs Commission
First Vice President		Political party		Member since	Other positions
	Choe Ryong-hae 최룡해 (born 1950)		Workers' Party of Korea	29 June 2016	Member of thePresidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly
Vice President of the State Affairs Commission
Vice President		Political party		Member since	Other positions
	Kim Tok-hun 김덕훈 (born 1961)		Workers' Party of Korea	29 September 2021	Member of thePresidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Premier of the Cabinet
Members of the State Affairs Commission
Member		Political party		Member since	Other positions
	Kim Yong-chol 김영철 (born 1945)		Workers' Party of Korea	29 June 2016	Member of thePolitical Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Director of the Unified Front Department of theCentral Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
	Ri Chang-dae 리창대		Workers' Party of Korea	11 April 2018	Member of thePolitical Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Member of theCentral Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea Minister of State Security Colonel Generalof theKorean People's Army
	Choe Son-hui 최선희		Workers' Party of Korea	12 April 2020	Member of thePolitical Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Minister of Foreign Affairs
	Jo Yong-won 조용원 (born 1957)		Workers' Party of Korea	29 September 2021	Member of thePresidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Member of theCentral Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea Colonel Generalof theKorean People's Army
	Pak Jong-chon 박정천		Workers' Party of Korea	29 September 2021	Member of thePresidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
	O Su-yong 오수용 (born 1944)		Workers' Party of Korea	29 September 2021	Member of thePolitical Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Director of the Economic Department of theCentral Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
	Ri Yong-gil 리영길 (born 1955)		Workers' Party of Korea	29 September 2021	Member of thePolitical Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Vice Chairman of theCentral Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea Minister of National Defence Generalof theKorean People's Army
	Jang Jong-nam 장정남		Workers' Party of Korea	29 September 2021	Alternate Member of thePolitical Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Minister of Public Security Lieutenant General
	Kim Song-nam 김성남 (born 1953)		Workers' Party of Korea	29 September 2021	Alternate Member of thePolitical Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Director of the International Department of theCentral Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
	Kim Yo Jong 김여정 (born 1987)		Workers' Party of Korea	29 September 2021	Deputy Department Director of thePublicity and Information Departmentof theCentral Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea

References

Works cited

• Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea: Amended and supplemented on June 29, Juche 105 (2016), at the Fourth Session of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly(PDF).2016 [1972].