Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea
The Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea, also known as the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, DFRF, or the Fatherland Front, formed on 22 July 1946,[1] is a North Korean popular front led by the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). It was initially called the North Korean Fatherland United Democratic Front.[2]
Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea 조국통일민주주의전선 Choguk T'ongil Minju Chuŭi Chŏnsŏn | |
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Supreme Leader | Kim Jong-un |
President and Secretary General | Pak Myong-chol |
Founder | Kim Il-sung |
Founded | 22 July 1946 |
Headquarters | Pyongyang |
Ideology | Juche Songun |
Supreme People's Assembly | 687 / 687 |
Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea | |
Chosŏn'gŭl | 조국통일민주주의전선 |
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Hancha | |
Revised Romanization | Joguk tong(-)il minju juui jeonseon |
McCune–Reischauer | Choguk t'ongil minju chuŭi chŏnsŏn |
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of North Korea |
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Initially 72 parties and social organizations,[3] from both the North and the South, comprised the front.[4] Today it has 24 members.[3] The three political parties of North Korea—the WPK, the Korean Social Democratic Party, and the Chondoist Chongu Party—all participate in the front.[5] The four most important mass organizations—the Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League, Socialist Women's Union of Korea, General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea, and Union of Agricultural Workers of Korea—are also members.[6][7] The Korean Children's Union is also a member organization.[8]
All candidates for elective office must be members of the front, and are elected by it; mass meetings are held to decide which candidates will be nominated and their names can go on the ballot paper only with the approval of the meeting.[9] In practice, however, the minor parties and mass organizations in the front are completely subservient to the WPK.[10] The WPK is thus able to predetermine the composition of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA).
There is an ostensible South Korean counterpart for the DFRF, known as the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front, which operates in North Korea.
The current President and Secretary General of the Central Committee of the DFRF is Pak Myong-chol.[11] Other people on its presidium include Ri Kil-song and Kim Wan-su.[12]
Members
Political parties
Party | Emblem | Korean name | Ideology | Foundation | Seats in the SPA (2014) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Workers' Party of Korea[13][14] | 조선로동당 Chosŏn Rodongdang |
Juche Songun |
29 July 1946 | 607 / 687 | |
Korean Social Democratic Party[15][14] | 조선사회민주당 Chosŏn Sahoe Minjudang |
Social democracy (de jure) | 3 November 1945 | 50 / 687 | |
Chondoist Chongu Party[16][14] | 천도교청우당 Ch'ŏndogyo Ch'ŏngudang |
Cheondoist interests | 18 February 1946 | 22 / 687 |
Other organizations
Organization | Emblem | Korean name | Foundation | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League | 김일성-김정일주의청년동맹 | 17 January 1946 | [17] | |
Socialist Women's Union of Korea | 조선사회주의녀성동맹 | 18 November 1945 | [18] | |
General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea | 조선직업총동맹 | 30 November 1945 | [19] | |
Union of Agricultural Workers of Korea | 조선농업근로자동맹 | 31 January 1946 | [19] | |
Korean Children's Union | 조선소년단 | 6 June 1946 | [20] | |
Korean Journalists' Union | 조선기자동맹 | 10 February 1946 | [21][22] | |
Korean Federation of Literature and Arts | 조선문학예술총동맹 | 25 March 1946 | [21][23] | |
Korean Christian Federation | 조선그리스도교연맹 | 28 November 1946 | [24] |
Electoral history
Supreme People's Assembly elections
Election | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1948 | 98.49% | 572 / 572 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
1957 | 99.92% | 215 / 215 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
1962 | 100% | 383 / 383 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
1967 | 100% | 457 / 457 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
1972 | 100% | 541 / 541 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
1977 | 100% | 579 / 579 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
1982 | 100% | 615 / 615 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
1986 | 100% | 655 / 655 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
1990 | 100% | 687 / 687 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
1998 | 100% | 687 / 687 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
2003 | 100% | 687 / 687 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
2009 | 100% | 687 / 687 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
2014 | 100% | 687 / 687 |
Sole legal coalition | ||
2019 | 100% | 687 / 687 |
Sole legal coalition |
References
- "Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland". Naenara.kp. 2004. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008.
- Andrei N. Lankov (2001). "The Demise of Non-Communist Parties in North Korea (1945–1960)". jhu.edu. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
- 조국통일민주주의전선(조국전선) - 개요. nk.chosun.com (in Korean). 30 October 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- "Korea". The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). 1970–1979. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- "Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland". An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Marxism, Socialism and Communism: Economic, Philosophical, Political and Sociological Theories, Concepts, Institutions and Practices. Macmillan International Higher Education. 1981. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-349-05806-8.
- Scalapino, Robert A.; Chun-yŏp Kim (1983). North Korea Today: Strategic and Domestic Issues. Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Center for Korean Studies. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-912966-55-7.
- Lansford, Tom (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. Singapore: CQ Press. p. 3330. ISBN 978-1-4833-7155-9.
- "Korea, Democratic People's Republic of (DPRK) - Organizations". Retrieved 31 August 2006.
- "The Parliamentary System of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" (PDF). Constitutional and Parliamentary Information. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 1 October 2006.
- Savada, Andrea Matles. "Mass Organizations." North Korea: A country study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1993.
- "Vietnam's Party, State delegation visits DPRK". Nhân Dân. NDO/VNA. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- "National Foundation Day Marked". KCNA Watch. Uriminzokkiri. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- Lanʹkov, Andreĭ Nikolaevich (2002). From Stalin to Kim Il Song: The Formation of North Korea, 1945-1960. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-85065-563-3.
- "IPU PARLINE Database: Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Choe Go In Min Hoe Ui". Inter-Parliamentary Union.
- North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 1128.
- Tertitskiy, Fyodor (26 November 2014). "Being a minor party in the North: In a totalitarian regime, what do N. Korea's other political blocs do?". NK News. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
- North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 391.
- North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 390.
- North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 389.
- North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 929.
- 조국통일민주주의전선(祖國統一民主主義戰線). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Archived from the original on 22 August 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- Lent, John A. (1982). Newspapers in Asia: Contemporary Trends and Problems. Hong Kong: Heinemann Asia. p. 127. ISBN 978-962-225-079-6.
- North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 1121.
- 조국통일민주주의전선. North Korea Information Portal (in Korean). Ministry of Unification. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- Hoare, James (2012). Historical Dictionary of Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. p. xxix. ISBN 978-0-8108-6151-0.
Works cited
- North Korea Handbook. Seoul: Yonhap News Agency. 2002. ISBN 978-0-7656-3523-5.
Further reading
- Kim Il-sung (1981). "On the Formation of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland: Report Delivered at the Sixth Meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea, June 11, 1949". Works. 5. Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House. OCLC 311616915.