The 2nd Central Committee (2nd CC) of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) was elected at the 2nd Congress on 30 March 1948, and remained in session until the election of the 3rd Central Committee on 29 April 1956. In between party congresses and specially convened conferences the Central Committee is the highest decision-making institution in the WPK and North Korea. The 2nd Central Committee was not a permanent institution and delegated day-to-day work to elected bodies, such as the Political Committee, the Standing Committee, the Organisation Committee and the Inspection Committee in this case. It convened meetings, known as "Plenary Session of the [term] Central Committee", to discuss major policies. Only full members had the right to vote, but if a full member could not attend a plenary session, the person's spot was taken over by an alternate. Plenary session could also be attended by non-members, such meetings are known as "Enlarged Plenary Session", to participate in the committee's discussions. During its tenure it held five plenary sessions, one enlarged session, seven joint plenary sessions and four stand-alone plenums.
A feature of North Korean politics was its factionalism. Four loosely defined factions were struggling for dominance; Kim Il Sung's partisans, domestic communists, the Yanan group and the Soviet Koreans. The 2nd CC, which consisted of 67 members and 20 alternate members, was divided along factional lines. Of the 67 members, 30 had served in the 1st Central Committee. Among those not reelected were Chon Song-hwa and Chong Tal-hyon from the domestic faction. The position of the partisan faction was strengthened, with Kang Kon, Kim Kwang-hyop, Kim Kyong-sok and Pak Kum-chol being elected to the 2nd Central Committee. Despite this, the domestic faction had the most representation on the 2nd CC. Further the 2nd CC reelected Yanan communist Kim Tu-bong as Chairman of the Central Committee while partisan Kim Il Sung and Chu Yong-ha from the domestic group were elected to the office of Vice Chairman. All the members of the 1st Political Committee were re-elected, while two new were added; Kim Chaek and Pak Il-u. Upon the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea (WPSK) on 24 June 1949, the 2nd Central Committee merged with the 1st WPSK Central Committee and gained 31 new members. The newly expanded 2nd CC elected Kim Il Sung as chairman and domestic communist Pak Hon-yong and Soviet Korean Ho Ka-i as vice chairmen. Also, Ho Ka-i with domestic communists (and former WPSK members) Yi Sung-yop and Kim Sam-yong were elected First, Second and Third Secretary respectively in charge of administrative affairs. Thirty-six individuals were re-elected to the 3rd Central Committee, of these 29 were original members of the WPNK's 2nd CC.
