The post was replaced at the October 1966 2nd Conference by the General Secretary of the Central Committee; through this office, Kim Il-sung became the formal head of the party's Secretariat.[2] After Kim Il-sung's death in 1994, the post was vacant for three years.[3] On 8 October 1997, Kim Jong-il was appointed to the new office of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea in a joint announcement by the Central Committee (CC) and the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Workers' Party of Korea: "[The CC and the CMC] pronounce comrade Kim Jong-il as general secretary of the party, based upon the wishes of the entire People's Army, people, and the members of the party."[3] At the 3rd Conference, the party charter was amended to require the general secretary to concurrently chair the Central Military Commission.[4] When Kim Jong-il died the WPK left the post of General Secretary vacant at the 4th Conference, making him "Eternal General Secretary".[5] Kim Jong-un was elected to the office of First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea,[5] which was established to "represent and lead the whole party as its head and materialize the ideas and lines of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il."[6] At the 7th WPK Congress the office of First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea was abolished, and replaced by the office of Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea.[2]