Communist Party of Korea in the context of Kim Yong-bom

The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is the oldest active party in Korea. It also controls the Korean People's Army, North Korea's armed forces. The WPK is the largest party represented in the Supreme People's Assembly and coexists with two other legal parties that are completely subservient to the WPK and must accept the WPK's "leading role" as a condition of their existence. The WPK is banned in South Korea under the National Security Act and is sanctioned by the United Nations, the European Union, Australia, and the United States.

The North Korean Branch Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea (CPK) was founded in 1945. In 1946, it was briefly renamed to the Communist Party of North Korea, becoming independent of the CPK, and merged with the New People's Party of Korea in the same year to eventually form the Workers' Party of North Korea. In 1948, the WPNK founded North Korea. In 1949, WPNK merged with the Workers' Party of South Korea to form the Workers' Party of Korea. In 1950, WPK leader Kim Il Sung launched the Korean War, aiming to militarily unite Korea, but was deterred by American intervention. Kim Il Sung attempted to stay neutral during the Sino–Soviet split, while decreasing both Chinese and Soviet influence in the WPK. Kim Il Sung purged rival factions in the WPK in the 1950s and 1960s, while promoting his own cult of personality.

The general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (Korean: 조선로동당 총비서) is the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party in North Korea, and the country's supreme leader. Party rules stipulate that the party congress elects the general secretary. The party conference and the Central Committee are empowered to remove and elect the party leader. The general secretary is ex officio chairman of the WPK Central Military Commission and leads the work of the secretariat. Additionally, the general secretary is by right of office a member of the WPK Presidium, the WPK Politburo and the WPK Secretariat.

The office traces its lineage back to the reestablishment of the Communist Party of Korea (CPK) on 14 September 1945 when Pak Hon-yong was elected Chairman of the CPK Central Committee. Later on 13 October 1945 the CPK established an internal North Korean Branch Bureau (NKBB) and nominated Hyon Chun-hyok as branch secretary. Hyon Chun-hyok was assassinated on 3 September 1945 and Kim Yong-bom was elected as branch secretary in his place. On 10 April 1946 the NKBB became independent of the CPK and changed its name to Communist Party of North Korea (CPNK). Later that year, on 30 August, the CPNK merged with the New People's Party of Korea to establish the Workers' Party of North Korea (WPNK). Kim Tu-bong was elected WPNK Chairman by the 1st WPNK Central Committee. In the meantime the Workers' Party of South Korea (WPSK) was established through the merger of the Communist Party of South Korea (led by Pak Hon-yong), New People's Party of Korea and a faction of the People's Party of Korea on 24 November 1946. The WPSK Central Committee elected Ho Hon as its party chairman. On the merger of the WPNK and the WPSK on 24 June 1949, the 2nd Central Committee elected Kim Il Sung as Chairman of the WPK Central Committee.

The North Korean Branch Bureau (NKBB) of the Communist Party of Korea (CPK; Korean: 조선공산당북조선분국) was established by a CPK conference on 13 October 1945. It changed its name to the Communist Party of North Korea (Korean: 북조선공산당) on 10 April 1946 and became independent of the CPK. It was through the merger with New People's Party of Korea replaced by the 1st Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea on 30 August 1946.

The New People's Party of Korea (Korean: 조선신민당; Hanja: 朝鮮新民黨) was a communist party in Korea. It was formed on 16 February 1946 by Korean Communists who had been exiled in China, later known as the Yan'an faction. The New People's Party had more moderate positions in some issues compared with the Communist Party of Korea, therefore it was rather popular with a wide range of Korean people. The leader of the party was Kim Tu-bong.

Pak Hon-yong (Korean: 박헌영; Hanja: 朴憲永; 28 May 1900 – 18 December 1955), courtesy name Togyong (덕영), was a Korean independence activist, politician, philosopher, communist activist and one of the main leaders of the Korean communist movement during Japan's colonial rule (1910–1945).

During the Japanese occupation of Korea, he tried to organize the Korean Communist Party. When the Japanese authorities cracked down on the party, he went into hiding. After Korea's liberation, August 1945, he set up the Communist Party of Korea in the South, but under pressure from American authorities he moved to North Korea (then People's Committee of North Korea) in April 1948. He attended a meeting with Kim Ku and Kim Kyu-sik on the subject of Korean reunification.

Hyŏn Chunhyŏk (Korean: 현준혁; 13 May 1906 – 3 September 1945) was a Korean politician and leader in the Communist Party of Korea. He was assassinated likely by a member of Daedongdan, the predecessor to the terrorist group the White Shirts Society.