Presidency of North Korea before 1994 The post of "President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" was established in the
Constitution of North Korea in 1972. Until then,
Kim Il Sung held the posts of
premier and
general secretary of the
Workers' Party of Korea. In 1972, the presidency was established, and Kim Il Sung was elected to the position by the
Supreme People's Assembly, the North Korean
legislature, on
December 28, 1972. Kim served as president until 1994 when he died, and the position was left vacant and his son and successor
Kim Jong Il was not given the title.
"Eternal President" The preamble of the Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as amended on September 5, 1998, reads: The president was the
de jure head of state of North Korea, but whose powers were exercised by the
"sacred leader" of the nation's
state ideology called
Juche. According to
Ashley J. Tellis and Michael Wills, this amendment to the preamble was an indication of the unique North Korean characteristic of being a
theocratic state based on the
personality cult surrounding Kim Il Sung. In addition, North Korea adopted a
Juche calendar dating from 1912, the year of Kim Il Sung's birth. The 2012 constitution once again referred to Kim Il Sung as the "Eternal President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea". == Head of state role in North Korea after the deaths of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il ==