Kim Il Sung himself inaugurated the post, keeping it for 24 years until 1972, while the ceremonial role of the head of state rested in the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly.

A constitution revision in 1998 abolished both the Central People's Committee and the Administration Council, re-creating the Cabinet.

[1] The cabinet is charged with executing the policies decided by the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the office effectively has no policy-making authority of its own.

[1] The Premier is nominally part of a triumvirate overseeing North Korea's executive branch, alongside the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and the President of the State Affairs Commission.

Kim Tok Hun, the incumbent Premier, has assumed the second-ranking position, while Choe Ryong-hae, Chairman of the SPA Standing Committee, is currently ranked third.