North Korean Workers' Party
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Workers' Party of North Korea
북조선로동당 Pukchosŏn Rodongdang |
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| Chairman | Kim Tu-bong |
| Vice Chairmen | Kim Il-sung, Chu Yong-ha, Ho Ka-i |
| Founded | 28 August 1946 |
| Dissolved | 30 June 1949 |
| Merger of | North Korean Branch Bureau of Communist Party of Korea, and New People's Party of Korea |
| Merged into | Workers' Party of Korea |
| Headquarters | Pyongyang |
| Newspaper | Rodong Sinmun, Kunroja |
| Membership (1946) | 366,000 |
| Ideology |
Communism Marxism–Leninism |
The Workers' Party of North Korea (Korean: 북조선로동당) was a communist party in North Korea from 1946 to 1949 and was a predecessor of the current Workers' Party of Korea. It was founded at a congress on 28–30 August 1946, by the merger of the North Korean Branch Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea and the New People's Party of Korea.Kim Tu-bong, the leader of the New People's Party, was elected Chairman of the party. Vice Chairmen of the party were Chu Yong-ha and Kim Il-sung. At the time of establishment, the party is believed to have had about 366 000 members organized in around 12,000 party cells.
The merger of the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea and the New People's Party can be seen as analogous to similar mergers taking place in Eastern Europe in the years following the Second World War, such as the formation of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and the Hungarian Working People's Party. The merger of the two parties was not uncomplicated. Between the two there were differences in terms of social background of cadres and ideological profiles. The New People's Party had a significant following of intellectuals whereas the Communist Party was mainly based amongst workers and peasants. Moreover, the Korean communists had been riddled by internal differences, and different communist factions were present in the new unified party. At the time of the founding of the new party discussions emerged on the role of Marxism-Leninism as the ideological foundation of the party. At the inaugural congress of the party, Kim Il-sung stated that "…the Workers Party is a combat unit and the vanguard of the working masses. We must fight with our utmost to maintain the Party's purity, unity, and iron discipline. If we were to fight against the enemy without meeting these conditions within our ranks, it would be nothing less than folly.", arguing in favor of maintaining a Marxist-Leninist orientation.
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