A new constitution was adopted in 1972 which stated that the President of North Korea is the supreme commander of the country's armed forces as well as the Chairman of the National Defense Commission.

On 24 December 1991, Kim Jong Il was appointed as the KPA Supreme Commander at the 19th plenary session of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

This appointment was part of the succession of Kim Jong Il, who was elected to the position of first vice chairman of the National Defense Commission on 22 May 1990.

At the time of his appointment as KPA Supreme Commander, he was the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea.

On 13 April 2012, the constitution was amended to transfer the powers of supreme commander to the First Chairman of the National Defense Commission to which Kim Jong Un was elected.