The general secretary is ex officio Chairman of the WPK Central Military Commission and leads the work of the secretariat.

[3] Hyon Chun-hyok was assassinated on 3 September 1945 and Kim Yong-bom was elected as branch secretary in his place.

[4] On 10 April 1946 the NKBB became independent of the CPK and changed its name to Communist Party of North Korea (CPNK).

[12] The post was abolished and replaced by the office of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea on 8 October 1997 after having been left vacant for 3 years and 92 days.

The office of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea was left vacant for 116 days and was later abolished.