North Korean House of Cards

highest guiding organ of the military and the managing organ of military matters.”
Following Kim Jong-il’s stroke in 2008, an enhanced bureaucratic structure was
created to support NDC operations, including a policy office and formal secretariat.
While it apparently did not meet as a body, Kim Jong-il sought information from
individuals on particular issues to inform his decisions. He allegedly tasked members
with responsibilities and oversight of specific policies. Therefore, the NDC was used
more for policy execution than decision-making. Article 109 of the constitution
outlines the NDC’s responsibilities:
• Establish important policies of the state for carrying out the “Military
First” (Songun) revolutionary line
• Guide the overall armed forces and defense-building work of the state
• Supervise the status of executing the orders of the Chairman of the
DPRK NDC and the decisions and directives of the NDC, and establish
relevant measures
• Rescind the decisions and directives of state organs that run counter
to the orders of the Chairman of the NDC and to the decisions and
directives of the NDC
• Establish or abolish central organs of the national defense sector
• Institute military titles and confer military titles above the general-grade
officer rank.
Since Kim Jong-un has taken over as the First Chairman of the NDC, this
organization seems to have faded into the background. It is a mouthpiece on certain
issues, especially on inter-Korean relations, and is the source for announcements
regarding tests of critical defense systems. 306 There have been no reported meetings of
the NDC thus far.
As the final main leadership body, the KWP CMC has played a special
role in the transfer of power to Kim Jong-un. At the Third Party Conference in
2010, the only leadership post Kim Jong-un received was Vice Chairman of the
CMC. According to the Party Charter, the CMC directs Party activity in the KPA
and is chaired by the Party’s General Secretary. 307 According to Section 27 of the
306 “DPRK National Defense Commission Proposes ‘High-Level Talks’ with US,” KCNA, June 16,
2013. The NDC released a statement in advance of the February 2013 nuclear test. For the nuclear tests of
2006 and 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was responsible for the release of such statements. In June
2013, the NDC took the lead in reasserting North Korea’s nuclear status as part of an offer for high-level
talks with the United States with the expressed purpose of creating a world free of nuclear weapons.
307 When Kim Jong-un became First Secretary following Kim Jong-il’s death, he assumed the
roles and responsibilities once reserved for the General Secretary.
Ken E. Gause
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