The position was created on 9 September 1948 under the name Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly. The Chairman was the head of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, which was given the power to ratify or annul treaties with foreign countries, appoint or recall ambassadors to foreign countries and receive letters of credentials or recall of foreign diplomatic representatives by the 1948 Constitution. This made the Chairman of the SPA Standing Committee the de jure head of state of North Korea.