Eternal President of the Republic
Learn more about Eternal President of the Republic
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The position of Eternal President of the Republic is established by a line in the preface to the North Korean constitution. It reads:
"The DPRK and the entire Korean people will uphold the great leader Comrade Kim Il-sung as the eternal President of the Republic" [1]
Given that the line "eternal President of the Republic" only appears in the preface, not in the functional text of the constitution and it is not associated with any government office with particular responsibilities, powers, privileges, etc. Furthermore, the only person to have ever been referred to this way was dead at the time, so this reference does not constitute an actual office.
There is currently no president of the DPRK as the office was abolished in the current constitution and its powers divided between three offices: the head of government, the Premier (currently Pak Pong-ju); the head of state, the President of the Supreme People's Assembly (currently Kim Yong-nam); and the head of the military, the Chairman of the National Defense Commission (currently Kim Jong-il). The current constitution formally divides the powers of the presidency between these three offices with Kim Jong-il as de facto ruler.[2]
