The Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea was established at the 5th plenary meeting of the 4th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea held on 10–14 December 1962. During its establishment, it was a committee subordinate to the WPK Central Committee under the full name '''Military Committee of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea'''. The committee was organized to its present form at the 6th plenary meeting of the 6th WPK Central Committee held on 29–31 August 1982. An amendment to the WPK charter in 1982 is believed to have made the CMC equal to the Central Committee, enabling it (among other things) to elect the WPK leader. The last public listing of the CMC was at the 21st Plenary Session of the 6th Central Committee in December 1993. By the
3rd Conference, seven of its nineteen 1993 members remained; the other twelve had either died, retired or were purged. The CMC was revitalized at the
3rd Conference in 2010, with
Kim Jong Un and
Ri Yong-ho elected as deputy chairmen. Except for his Central Committee membership, this was Kim Jong Un's only title at this time; in many ways, the CMC enabled him to develop a patronage network. New members included Vice Marshal
Kim Yong-chun (
Minister of People's Armed Forces), General
Kim Myong-ruk (Chief of the
Operation Bureau of the General Staff), General
Ri Pyong-chol (Commander of the
Korean People's Air Force), Admiral
Jong Myong-do (Commander of the
Korean People's Navy), Lieutenant General
Kim Yong-chol, Colonel General
Choe Kyong-song (heads of the KPA's special forces) General
Choe Pu-il and Colonel General
Choe Sang-ryo (members of the General Staff). Civilians, such as Jang Song-thaek (head of the Administrative Department), also had seats on the commission. However, the overall authority of the CMC was diluted; it was stripped of its authority to command the KPA. At the 4th Conference, Choe Ryong-hae was appointed CMC deputy chairman; Vice Marshal
Hyon Chol-hae, General
Ri Myong-su and
Kim Rak-gyom were elected to the commission. Kim Jong Un oversaw the CMC regaining its former power, aiming to bring the KPA firmly under party control; the
8th WPK Congress held in 2021 oversaw the CMC being upgraded to "the party’s supreme institution on military guidance", as well as granting it "command over the armed forces of the republic". == Organization ==