The Provisional People's Committee of North Korea was the provisional government of North Korea. The committee was established on 8 February 1946 in response for the need of the Soviet Civil Administration and the communists to have centralization of power in northern Korea, which was then an area divided into provincial people's committees. Regarded as the highest administrative power institution in northern Korea, it also became a de facto provisional government that carried out reforms, such as land reforms and the nationalization of key industries.