The League was founded on 17 January 1946 as the
Democratic Youth League of North Korea. It became the youth wing of the
Workers' Party of North Korea. Six months after its foundation in June 1946, the League joined the
World Federation of Democratic Youth, establishing international relations with other Marxist–Leninist and anti-imperialist youth movements. In 1949, it was renamed the
Democratic Youth League of Korea and in May 1964 renamed as the
League of Socialist Working Youth of Korea. It assumed the name
Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League on its 50th anniversary in 1996. The 8th congress of the youth league was held in February 1993, after a 12-year lapse since the 7th congress, held in 1981. The last conference was held on 12 July 2012, after ten years since the previous one, held on 21–22 March 2002. The 9th congress has been convened for January 2016, after 23 years since the previous one. On 4 January 2007, in
Pyongyang,
Kim Song-chol, the First Secretary of the
Pyongyang People's Committee of the KSYL gave a speech at a mass rally, with other high government officials, praising
Songun Korea. During the speech, Kim Song-chol said that the country should bolster "death-defying corps" and create a "youth vanguard faithfully following the Party's Songun politics." Recently,
Choe Ryong-hae has been replacing military officials with KSYL members. The Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League was renamed as the
Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League at its 9th Congress held on 27–28 August 2016. It was renamed as the Socialist Patriotic Youth League at its 10th Congress held on 27–28 April 2021, with the aims of reflecting its nature as a reserve force to socialist construction. == Organization ==