The 80th founding anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) dominated the North Korean political calendar this year, providing months of state propaganda before grand celebrations in early October were capped by a large-scale military parade.

But while the WPK has long been the ruling power in what is effectively a single-party state, a closer look back at the actual founding of the party shows that its history is not nearly as clear-cut as official propaganda makes it out to be, and it was by no means the only party vying for power in the post-colonial period.