The Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea (DFRK), also known as the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland (DFRF) or the Fatherland Front, was a North Koreanpopular front formed on 22 July 1946 and led by the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).[1] It was initially called the Fatherland United Democratic Front.
All candidates for an elected office in North Korea had to be a member of the front, and were nominated and approved at mass meetings held by the front.[8] The WPK led the front and all other member organizations were subservient to it.[9] The WPK was thus able to predetermine the composition of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA). The Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front is ostensibly the South Korean counterpart to the DFRK, but it operates from North Korea.
At the time of its dissolution, the Director of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the DFRK was Maeng Kyong Il. Members of the Presidium of the Central Committee included Pak Myong Chol and Kim Wan Su.[10]
In the 1950s, the front outlived its original role as a way for the Workers' Party to consolidate its power. It was therefore assigned a new role; to serve as body to interact with South Korean organizations and political parties. It consequently changed the English rendering name to the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea (DFRK). According to North Korea expert Andrei Lankov, in this capacity, the DFRK "handled relations with South Korea’s assorted progressive groups while also serving as a quasi-official voice of the North Korean government on matters related to the South".[12]
In 2018, the DFRK was led by Pak Myong Chol.[14] Presidium members during that time included Ri Kil Song and Kim Wan Su.[15] On 23 March 2024, the Korean Central News Agency reported that the DFRK had officially dissolved its central committee, effectively dissolving the whole front. The move followed a speech by Kim Jong Un in which he stated that the North would give up its goal of peaceful reunification with the South and dissolve all organizations related to the goal.[16]
Kim Il-sung (1981). "On the Formation of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland: Report Delivered at the Sixth Meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea, June 11, 1949". Works. Vol.5. Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House. OCLC311616915.