Central Military Commission

The Central Military Commission is an organ of the WPK and is responsible for coordinating the Party organizations within the Korean People's Army. Its full and official name is the Commission for Military Affairs of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. Its functions are similar to those of the Communist Party of China's CMC. In addition to Kim Jong-il and Kom Jong-Un, the Commission has another 16 members, including Kim Yong Chun, Kim Jong Gak, and Jang Song Taek.

On June 29, 2016, the North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly, under the revised North Korean constitution, replaced the National Defense Commission with a Commission on State Affairs, with Kim Jong Un as its top chairman. The National Defense Commission (NDC) of the State, which was different from the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the WPK, was defined by the 1998 constitution as "the highest guiding organ of the military and the managing organ of military matters." The chairman of the NDC controls the armed forces. It is responsible for the management and direction of all military affairs and defense projects under the commission's authority. The NDC, though nominally under the Supreme People's Assembly, was the highest state body, with ultimate executive power (including responsibility for the armed forces) resting with its chairman, Kim Jong-il. It takes all decisions relating to nuclear and missile development.