Korean People’s Army « North Korean Economy Watch

Archive for the ‘Korean People’s Army’ Category

Bermudez publishes KPA Journal, Vol. 1, No.3

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Joseph Bermudez, military analyst for Jane’s Intelligence Review and author of The Armed Forces of North Korea, has published the third issue of his very fascinating KPA Journal.

Click here to download the full issue (PDF)

Chapters include: KPA Engineer River Crossing Units During the Fatherland Liberation War (Part 3), The Scud B SRBM in KPA Service, A ‘Type’ KPAF Fortified SAM Base.

Bermudez Comments in the Journal:

With this issue I’ve concluded coverage of the KPA’s engineer river crossing units during the Fatherland Liberation War. I would like to thank all the readers for their positive comments concerning this series of articles. As I mentioned in issue No. 2 I will follow up this series with some coverage of KPA underwater bridges and bridging equipment. Which issue they will appear in is presently uncertain.

A number of readers have asked if I will be writing anything special for the 60th Anniversary of the Korean War this June. I haven’t yet decided upon a topic for the June issue, but would like to hear from what you the readers might be interested to see. Readers might be interested to know that I had written a history of the KPA’s 17th Tank Division during the war and submitted it to Armor for publication with the hope that it would appear in the May-June issue. Unfortunatley their publication schedule is already full. They have, however, accepted it for publication in a future issue. When that occurrs, I will inform the readers of KPA Journal.

In response to a number of reader’s requests I will be preparing several articles, or photo essays, on KPA tanks and armored fighting vehicles. I hope to have the first in time for the next issue.

I am making slow progress on the KPA Journal website and I hope to have it up in a month or so. I will let the readers know when it goes live.

Finally, all readers are encouraged to share ideas of what you would like to see in future issues of KPA Journal. As always I would like to thank you all for your encouragement and support.

You can download previous issues of KPA Journal here.

Posted in Korean People's Army, Military | Comments Closed

In North Korea, the military now issues economic orders

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Blane Harden wrote an excellent article for the Washington Post on the KPA takeover of state-owned trading companies and how these companies are increasing natural resource exports to China. (As an aside, China has just recently ceased publishing North Korean trade data). This is interesting because just a year-and-a-half ago we were discussing Jang Song-thaek’s anti-corruption campaign which was supposed to be closing down KPA companies and making them reapply for export licenses with the Ministry of Foreign Trade (meaning the WPK could start dipping into the revenue pools).

Quoting from Mr. Harden’s article:

The potential profits are eye-popping: China is one of the world’s most voracious consumers of raw materials, and North Korea’s mineral reserves are worth $5.94 trillion, according to an estimate by South Korea’s Ministry of Unification. China has been critical of North Korea’s nuclear program and missile tests, but it also has vastly increased its economic ties with Kim’s government.

Kim is increasingly creaming off a significant slice of Chinese mineral revenue to fund his nuclear program and to buy the loyalty of elites, according to “North Korea, Inc.,” a recent report by the United States Institute of Peace, a Washington-based group funded by the U.S. Congress.

The report echoes the views of North Korean analysts in South Korea, Japan and the United States, who say the military has elbowed out other ministries and the Korean Workers’ Party to take control of exports that earn hard currency. The military is also sending trucks to state farms to haul away as much as a quarter of the annual harvest for its soldiers, analysts say.

“The military is by far the largest, most capable and most efficient organization in North Korea, and Kim Jong Il is making maximum use of it,” said Lim Eul-chul of the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.

North Korea is perhaps the world’s most secretive and repressive state, but it makes no attempt to hide the ubiquitous role the military plays in the daily lives of the country’s 23.5 million people. Soldiers dig clams and launch missiles, pick apples and build irrigation canals, market mushrooms and supervise the export of knockoff Nintendo games. They also guard the country’s 3,000 cooperative farms, and help themselves to scarce food in a hungry country.

…

Missile sales were for many years major earners of foreign currency, according to a report for the Strategic Studies Institute by Daniel A. Pinkston, who is now a Seoul-based analyst with the International Crisis Group. But the cost of the arms trade has gone up and sales have declined as a result of U.N. sanctions imposed after the North’s nuclear tests in 2006 and this year, South Korean analysts say.

The military has thus turned to its new Chinese cash cow. As the army has taken over management of mines in North Korea, mineral exports to China have soared, rising from $15 million in 2003 to $213 million last year. Led by those sales, the North’s total trade volume rose last year to its highest level since 1990, when a far more prosperous and less isolated North Korea was subsidized by the Soviet Union.

A unique advantage the Korean People’s Army brings to foreign trade is a well-disciplined workforce that has to be paid — nothing. Soldiers receive food, clothes and lodging, but virtually no cash. This competitive edge makes military-run trading companies especially attractive to the North’s leadership, according to the Institute of Peace report.

Based on confidential interviews with recent North Korean defectors, four of whom said they worked for trading companies run by the military, the paper concludes that a “designated percentage of all revenues generated from commercial activities . . . goes directly into Kim Jong Il’s personal accounts.” The rest of the revenue flows into the operating budget of the military.

The full article is worth reading here.

Additionally, the report by the Institute of Peace cited above, “North Korea, Inc.”, can be downloaded here. The paper is on my reading list this weekend, but here is the introduction and conclusion:

Introduction: Assessing regime stability in North Korea continues to be a major challenge for analysts. By examining how North Korea, Inc. — the web of state trading companies affiliated to the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP), the Korean People’s Army (KPA), and the Cabinet — operates, we can develop a new framework for gauging regime stability in North Korea. Insights into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)1 regime can be gained by examining six core questions related to the DPRK state trading company system. First, what are DPRK state trading companies and how did they emerge? Second, how do DPRK state trading companies operate? Third, what roles do they play? Fourth, why are DPRK state trading companies important? Fifth, what major transformations are taking place in the DPRK state trading company system? Sixth, what are the implications of the manner in which this system is currently functioning?

Conclusion: Despite lingering problems with the fragmented Public Distribution System, the challenges of chronic food shortages, and a deteriorating economic infrastructure system, the DPRK regime has proven to be remarkably resilient. By operating North Korea, Inc. — a network of state trading companies affiliated to the KWP, the KPA, and the Cabinet — the regime is able to derive funds to maintain the loyalty of the North Korean elites and to provide a mechanism through which different branches of the North Korean state can generate funds for operating budgets. During periods when the DPRK’s international isolation deepens as a result of its brinkmanship activities, North Korea, Inc. constitutes an effective coping mechanism for the Kim Jong Il regime.

While North Korea remains an opaque country, we now have greater access to unique defectors with the following characteristics — prior experience working in DPRK state trading companies and current business dealings with former colleagues in North Korea through channels in China. By closely examining DPRK commercial activities and capabilities, a new field of North Korea analysis can be structured to produce insights into the internal dynamics of the DPRK regime. This new line of inquiry would help to broaden our understanding of an evolving North Korea.

Posted in Cabinet, China, International trade, Korean People's Army, Mining/Minerals, Worker's Party | Comments Closed

No more “communism” in DPRK “constitution”

Sunday, October 11th, 2009

UPDATE 5: Dr. Petrov has some great commentary on the new constitution:

A rough English translation as offered by Northeast Asia Matters in their report here but it mistranslates Article 8 of the Constitution, calling “근로인민의 리익” or “the interests of the workers” as “human rights”, which is not the same.

As for dropping the word 공산주의 or “communism”, indeed is happened in Articles 29 and 40 (Economy and Culture respectively). The mystery is in why Naenara keeps the old English version, where the sensational new Section 2 of Chapter VI “Chairman of the National Defence Commission” is missing?

UPDATE 3: Northeast Asia Matters has posted a copy of the DPRK constitution in English. Click here to read.

UPDATE 2: A reader has posted the new constitution (in Korean) in the comments section below. Click here to read.

UPDATE 1: From the Wall Street Journal:

The average North Korean doesn’t know the country’s national constitution well, but at least he has a solid excuse: Kim Jong Il keeps the working masses ignorant of the rights that are formally granted them, which include freedom of speech and demonstration. But just because Pyongyang’s constitution is hardly worth the paper it is written on does not mean that alterations to it are beneath notice. For the ruling elite, its preamble and first few articles serve as a broad indication of the regime’s ideological direction.

ORIGINAL POST: According to Reuters:

North Korea has revised its constitution to give even more power to leader Kim Jong-il, ditch communism and elevate his “military first” [Songun] ideology, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said on Monday.

Though there is little doubt over the 67-year-old Kim’s power, secured by his role as chairman of the National Defence Commission, the new constitution removes any risk of ambiguity.

“The chairman is the highest general of the entire military and commands the entire country,” according to a text of the constitution enacted by the reclusive North in April and only now released by the South Korean government.

The chairman is now the country’s “supreme leader”. Though the position had become the seat of power under Kim, the previous constitution in 1998 simply said the chairman oversees matters of state.

But the Unification Ministry said the new charter removes all reference to communism, the guiding ideology when Kim’s father Kim Il-sung founded North Korea — of which since his death in 1994 he has been eternal president.

Often in its place is “songun”, the policy of placing the military first and which has been Kim junior’s ruling principle.

South Korean media quoted an official from the North as saying that it made the change because it felt the ideals of communism are “hard to fulfil”.

The new constitution adds assurances for protecting human rights, even though North Korea has one of the world’s worst records.

Experts on the North’s state propaganda said the military first ideology has helped Kim dodge responsibility for the country’s sharp economic decline by arguing that heavy defence spending was needed to overcome threats posed by the United States.

It has also meant that the bulk of the North’s limited resources have gone into beefing up a million-strong military at the expense of the rest of the population who make up one of Asia’s poorest societies.

According to the Associated Press:

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies, says it is the first time the North’s constitution has mentioned human rights.

“I think they created this clause, mindful of international criticism of their human rights record,” Yang said. “It lacks details, such as how they will respect and protect human rights. I think it’s just a formality.”

The new constitution also defined Kim Jong Il as the country’s highest leader in a clearer term, saying that the chairman of the all-powerful National Defense Commission — Kim’s title — is the nation’s “supreme leader.”

The previous version only said the commission is the country’s highest organization.

The new constitution also dropped references to communism and only mentions socialism.

But Yang said the change does not mean much because the charter of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, which is considered higher than the constitution, still says its goal is to build a communist nation.

New York Times:

…Analysts saw the changes as signs that one of the last holdouts from the former Communist bloc was trying to improve its international image in an effort to engage the United States and that the ailing Mr. Kim was trying to burnish his legacy.

North Korea revised its Constitution in April when its rubber-stamp Parliament re-elected Mr. Kim as chairman of the National Defense Commission amid uncertainty over his health. But the outside world was kept in the dark about the details of the amendment until Monday, when South Korea released what it called the text of the North Korean Constitution.

The new Constitution defined one of several titles Mr. Kim holds, chairman of the National Defense Commission, as “supreme leader” of the country. Though Mr. Kim has ruled the country as an undisputed leader, the Constitution revision is the first time he has acquired such an official designation since the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994.

The chairman “oversees the entire national business,” appointing important military figures, ratifying or abrogating treaties with foreign nations, appointing special envoys and declaring states of emergency or war, the new Constitution said.

The government of South Korea declined to comment, saying it was still scrutinizing the changes. But analysts said Mr. Kim was reasserting his rule by stamping his imprint on the Constitution at a time when doubt persisted at home and abroad about his health and his grip on power.

“After he overcame his health crisis, Kim Jong-il revised the Constitution to show that he was in control and was the person the United States must deal with,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea analyst at Dongguk University in Seoul. “By mentioning human rights and giving up communism, which sounded hollow to his people after the collapse of the Eastern bloc, he is also trying to show that he is a flexible leader sensitive to the changing world order.”

The constitutional revision does little to add to his already absolute grip on power, said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at Sejong Institute in South Korea. Mr. Kim is already head of the ruling Workers’ Party and the People’s Army. The new Constitution stuck to a socialist system, though it abandoned communism.

But by bringing more portfolios under his National Defense Commission, “Kim Jong-il showed an intention to focus more on the military and foreign affairs” while leaving party matters to Kim Jong-un, the youngest of his three sons, who is reportedly being groomed as his successor, Mr. Cheong said.

North Korea is now ruled by a “Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un coalition,” he added.

In 1998, four years after the death of Kim Jong-il’s father, North Korea revised its Constitution to leave the senior Kim’s title, president, “eternally vacant,” dispersing the roles of the presidency to different agencies. That left outside analysts wondering who officially represented the country, though few disputed Mr. Kim’s authority. With the April revision, Mr. Kim has now left no doubt where the power resides both in reality and in document, analysts said.

Read the full stories below:
North Korea drops communism, boosts “Dear Leader”
Reuters
Jon Herskovitz and Christine Kim
9/28/2009

North Korea’s new constitution calls for respecting human rights for first time
Associated Press
9/28/2009

New Constitution Bolsters Kim’s Power
New York Times
Choe Sang-hun
9/28/2009

Posted in Korean People's Army, National Defense Commission, Political economy, Worker's Party | 5 Comments »

KPA going guerilla

Friday, October 9th, 2009

According to Blaine Harden in the Washington Post (excerpts):

North Korea has massively increased its special operations forces, schooled them in the use of Iraqi-style roadside bombs and equipped them to sneak past the heavily fortified border that divides the two Koreas.

In a conflict, tens of thousands of special forces members would try to infiltrate South Korea: by air in radar-evading biplanes, by ground through secret tunnels beneath the demilitarized zone (DMZ), and by sea aboard midget submarines and hovercraft, according to South Korean and U.S. military analysts.

Their primary mission, in the event of war, is to leapfrog the DMZ and create chaos among the 20.5 million residents of greater Seoul, while harassing South Korean and U.S. forces in rear areas, military and intelligence experts said.

South Korea and the United States agree that the number of North Korean special forces is rising, but they disagree on how much.

The number is now 180,000, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry. That’s a 50 percent increase since the South’s last official count three years ago. But Sharp, the U.S. commander here, puts the number at 80,000 (although that still dwarfs the special forces of any country, including the United States, which has about 51,000.)

Much of the difference appears to be a dispute over the definition of special forces. North Korea has retrained and reconfigured about 60,000 infantry troops as special forces in the past three years, South Korea says. The United States agrees that this reconfiguring has occurred, but it “does not count [retrained infantry] as special forces,” according to Maj. Todd Fleming, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Korea.

Whatever the number, there is widespread agreement that the North’s special forces are increasingly formidable. Sharp describes them as “tough, well-trained and profoundly loyal,” while being capable of illicit activities, strategic reconnaissance and attacks against civilian infrastructure and military targets across Northeast Asia.

But the capacity of North Korea to protect and maintain that frontline armor has declined since the 1990s. Flight hours for the North’s military aircraft have plummeted for lack of fuel, as has training of mechanized ground forces.

North Korea has also begun to question the utility of the tanks and armor it can afford at the front, after seeing the ease with which U.S. precision weapons shredded Saddam Hussein’s armored forces in Iraq, according to a South Korean Defense Ministry report.

“They were really shocked watching how the Americans destroyed Iraq’s tanks,” said Kim, the military affairs editor.

What North Korea still has in extraordinary abundance are boots on the ground, thanks to universal conscription and a mandatory 10 years of military service for men, seven years for women.

“The North Koreans made a decision based on the resources they have,” said Kwon Young-hae, a former director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service. “The best way for them to counterbalance the South’s technological advantage is with special forces. When Kim Jong Il gives pep talks to these troops, he says, ‘You are individually, one by one, like nuclear weapons.’ “

The full article is worth reading here.

I cant help but see the Iranian government involved in this, but that is entirely speculative.

And a personal aside—I recommend that everyone (including Americans) visit Iran. Despite the reputation of the Iranian government in the west, the country is one of the friendliest and most beautiful places I have been fortunate enough to visit. My only regret with regards to my trip there is that I could not spend more time enjoying the company of her beautiful people.

Posted in Korean People's Army, Military | 1 Comment »

KPA takes over party and intel offices

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

According to Yonhap:

North Korea has carried out a reshuffle of government organizations, shifting the jurisdiction over its overseas espionage and cash cow operations from the Workers’ Party to the military, sources said Sunday.

The North has separated its two major spying and cash-generating overseas trade units — Room 35 and Operation Unit — from the Workers’ Party and transferred them to the People’s Armed Forces, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

The Operation Unit is known to train and send agents to South Korea, the United States and Japan, but its recent operations are believed to have shifted toward trades of arms, drugs and fake bills.

Room 35 is North Korea’s intelligence unit in charge of collecting information from South Korea, Japan, China, Southeast Asia and Europe.

Kim Hyon-hui, one of the two North Korean agents who blew up a Korean Air flight over Myanmar in 1987, was believed to have belonged to the Room 35 and to have been trained in the Operation Unit.

“North Korea’s Operation Unit handles a large amount of cash through illegal activities such as counterfeiting currency, manufacturing drugs and exporting arms,” a source said. “With the Operation Unit now under its wing, the North Korean military will have a major source of independent financing.”

The latest shakeup appears to be intended to address overlapped functions among government organizations and raise their overall efficiency, according to North Korea watchers.

The sources said North Korea may be trying to shed a terrorism-related image from its ruling Workers’ Party, which has tagged along since the 1987 flight bombing.

The full article can be found here:
N. Korea puts spy agencies under military control in major shakeup
Yonhap
5/10/2009

Posted in Korean People's Army, Worker's Party | 1 Comment »

2009 Supreme People’s Assembly (s)elections

Friday, March 6th, 2009

UPDTE 5: (h/t Werner) Here is a link to the full list of SPA members (in Korean). Kim Jong il’s district, 333, is the only one not published. Jang Song Taek (Kim’s borther in law) is representing district 31.

UPDATE 4: Michael Madden sends in more biographies of prominent North Koreans:

Kim Kyong Hui, biography here
Ju Sang Song, biography here
Ji Yong Chun, biography here
Choe Ryong Hae, biography here
Kim Yong Ju, biography here

UPDATE 3: Daily NK coverage of the election results here.

UPDATE 2: Yonhap reports that fewer lawmakers were replaced than in the 2003 election, when there was a 50% turnover. Choe Sung-chol, vice chairman of the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee handling inter-Korean affairs, was removed from the Assembly, according to its new list.

UPDATE 1: The AP is reporting that none of Kim Jong il’s sons were (s)elected to the SPA. Who was (s)elected? I am still waiting on the full list, but the AP reports the following:

Members of the new parliament announced Monday included Kim Yong Nam, the North’s No. 2 official and the ceremonial head of state; Jang Song Taek, head of the Workers’ Party’s administrative department and Kim Jong Il’s brother-in-law; and Kang Sok Ju, the first vice foreign minister.

Read the full story here.

ORIGINAL POST: On Sunday, March 8, the DPRK will hold “our-style elections” for members of the Supreme People’s Assembly. Organizaitonal charts of the North Korean government can be found here, although they are based on the a de jure reading of DPRK’s legal procedures not the de facto operation of the political system. A list of top policymakers (in state offices) can be found here. I will post relevant material as it becomes available. In the meantime, here is some related information:

1. DPRK recent military personnel changes.

2. Kim Jong il nominated for SPA.

3. CIA publishes list of policymakers.

4. DPRK ministerial shakeup.

5. Election day pictures: 1, 2, 3.

6. KCNA coverage of the election: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

7. Biographies if prominent NK policy-makers by Michael Madden posted below.

The Associated Press provides some context for the (s)election:

North Korea holds elections Sunday for its legislature, the Supreme People’s Assembly. A look at key factors in the upcoming poll:

WHAT’S AT STAKE: Voters will elect the country’s 12th Supreme People’s Assembly for a five-year term. The assembly currently has 687 deputies but the number, which is linked to the country’s population, could change.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: Legislatively, the assembly is a rubber-stamp body. But since members double as key officials, the election provides a glimpse of the ruling elite in the secretive country.

WHO’S RUNNING: Only one candidate runs in each constituency. By law, individuals and organizations can recommend candidates, but the ruling Workers’ Party is widely believed to pick candidates. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is running in constituency No. 333.

THE VOTE: Officially, it’s a secret vote. In reality, it’s not. To vote against a candidate, voters go to a special booth to cross out the name, making it obvious who is doing so. Defectors say opposing a candidate is unthinkable. Polls typically open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and results are announced the following day.

TURNOUT: In the last election in 2003, turnout was 99.9 percent, state media said. All citizens aged 17 or older are eligible to vote.

The Donga Ilbo offers, “6 Rising Stars in the North Korean Elite”:

A report by the South Korean Unification Ministry presented to the National Assembly yesterday mentioned six politicians among the 20 most frequently mentioned by the North’s official daily Rodong Shinmun last year as rising stars in Pyongyang’s hierarchy.

The six were not mentioned in 2007.

One North Korea expert said, “North Korea’s leadership has been controlled by Kim Jong Il. Those frequently mentioned by media can be considered powerful politicians. After the elections Sunday, North Korea’s political elite will be replaced. In the process, we need to pay more attention to the rising stars.”

The most notable among the six is Ri Yong Chol, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League. He ranks 15th for being mentioned 45 times last year.

Since being elected secretary in December 2007, Ri has often appeared on the political scene. He even had an interview with the state-run (North) Korean Central News Agency on the implementation of projects announced in a New Year’s joint editorial.

Kim Jong Il established the league, a fringe organization of the ruling Workers’ Party whose previous name was the Socialist Working Youth League, to strengthen the political foundation of his successor.

To lure the “third and fourth generations of revolution,” Kim renamed the body the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League after his late father.

In 2007, the list of the North’s top 20 politicians had nobody from the league. Ri’s rapid rise indicates Kim Jong Il’s strategy to strengthen the power of his successor.

Kim Thae Jong, vice director of the international department of the party’s Central Committee, ranks ninth for appearing 62 times in the media. He was a frequent player in diplomacy last year and even appeared in the royal box when North Korea held a national event to commemorate the 17th anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s taking office as supreme commander of the North’s military in December last year.

In 2007, Vice Marshal Kim Il Chol was the sole military officer among the top 20 elites but fell out of last year’s list.

Replacing him were marshals Hyon Chol Hae (11th) and Ri Myong Su (13th). Hyon accompanied Kim Jong Il most often last year and Ri ranked second in that category.

Among Cabinet members, Foreign Trade Minister Ri Ryong Nam, who was mentioned by media 43 times, ranked 17th. Kim Jong Il appointed nine new ministers including Ri last year.

Most of the six ministers appointed since October last year have been emerging technocrats.

Michael Madden submits these brief biographies of some DPRK notables:

Kim Ki-nam, biography (PDF), photo
Ri Yong-mu, biography (PDF)
Kim Il-chol, biography (PDF), photo
Jon Pyong-ho, biography (PDF)

Jang Brothers

Jang Sung-taek, PDF biography here, recent photo with Kim Jong il here.

Jang Sung-gil
Birth date: January 13, 1939
Last known position: Lieutenant General, KPA

Positions held:
1981: Colonel, and Vice-Commanding Officer, Second Corps, KPA
1982: Colonel, and Commanding Officer, 13th Division, Second Corps, KPA
Vice-Commanding Officer, Second Corps, KPA
1985: Major General, Commanding Officer, 32nd Division, Fifth Corps, KPA
1992: Vice-Commanding Officer, Fourth Corps, KPA
1992: Promoted to Lieutenant General, KPA (April)*
1996: Commanding Officer, 105th Division, Ryu Kyong-su Tank Command, KPA (December)

Presumed to be relieved of command of the 105th Tank Division, during JST’s p.n.g. status.

*General Jang is part of the same 1992 class that promoted Kim Yong Chun

Jang Sung-u
Born: 1935, Kangwon Province
Education
Kim il Sung Military Academy

Positions held:
1971: Vice Department Director, Organization and Guidance Department, CCKWP
1977: Promoted to Major General, KPA
1980: Member, CCKWP (October)
1982: Dlegate, 7th SPA (February)
Awarded Order of Kim il Sung (April)
1984: Promoted to Lieutenant General, KPA (May)
1986: Delegate, 8th SPA (November)
1988: Director-General, Reconnaissance Bureau, MPAF
1989: 1st Vice Director, Public Security Department (January)
1990: Delegate, 9th SPA, representing Saenal, South Hwanghae (April)
Promoted to Colonel-General, KPA (presumed April)
Member, Qualification Screening Committee, SPA (May)
1991: Director, General Political Bureau, State Security Department (December)
1992: Interim Position in the Central Command, KPA (April)
Director-General, General Political Bureau, State Security (May)
1994: Commanding Officer, Third Corps, KPA
Member, Kim il Sung Funeral Committee [#85]
1995: Dismissal, as Director-General, General Political Bureau, State Security Department (November)
1996: Commanding Officer, Third Corps, KPA (July)
1998: Delegate 10th SPA (July)

Jang’s inner circle

Cho Chun Hwang
Position: First Vice Department Director, Propaganda and Agitation Department, CCKWP
Education:
Baccalaureate, History, Kim il Sung University

Previous positions:
1972-1990: Mr. Cho worked as a staff member, division director, and department deputy director in the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the CCKWP.
1991: Vice Department Director, Propaganda and Agitation Department, CCKWP
1997: First Vice Department Director, Propaganda and Agitation Department, CCKWP (June)
2000: Vice Department Director Propaganda and Agitation Department, CCKWP (July)

Ri Yong Bok
Position(s): Chief Secretary, Nampho City People’s Committee
Member, 11th SPA
Member, Qualification Screening Committee, SPA

Positions held:
1972: Chairman, KIS League of Socialist Working Youth (December)
Presidium member and delegate, 5th SPA (December)
1982: Vice Department Director, Youth Guidance and Three Revolutions Department, CCKWP (June)
1998: Delegate (606 ED), 10th SPA (July)
Appointed Chief Secretary, Nampho City People’s Committee

Ri Kwang Gun
Position: unknown, possibly in Europe; former Minister of Foreign Trade
Born: 1935
Education:
Namsan Senior Middle School
Pyongyang Foreign Language Institute, German Department
Kim il Sung University

Positions held:
1965: Lecturer, German Department, Pyongyang Foreign Language Institute
1972: Professor, German Department, Kim il Sung University
1977-1978: Ministry of Foreign Trade
1979: State External Economic Affairs Commission
1987: 1st Secretary, Economic Affairs, DPRK Representative to Germany
1991: State External Economic Affairs Commission
1997 (presumed): Korea General Equipment Import and Export Corporation
2000: Appointed Minister of Foreign Trade, DPRK (December)

O Kuk Ryol
Born: 1931, Jilin, PRC
Education:
Mangyongdae Revolutionary School
Kim il Sung University
USSR Croatia Military University (1962)

Positions held:
1964: Promoted Major-General, KPA Air Force
Appointed, Dean, KPA Air Force Academy (November)
1967: Promoted Lieutenant-General and Commanding Officer, KPA Air Force (October)
Delegate, 4th SPA (November)
1970: Appointed Members, CCKWP (November)
1972: Delegate, 5th SPA (December)
1977: Appointed Vice Chief of Staff, KPA (October)
Delegate, 6th SPA (November)
1978: Appointed Alternate Member, Political Bureau, CCKWP
1979: appointed Chief of Staff, KPA (September)
[His command of the KPA Air Force was succeeded by Jo Myong Rok]
1980: Promoted to Colonel General, KPA (September)
Member, CCKWP; Member, Political Bureau (October)
Member, Central Military Committee
1982: Delegate, 7th SPA (February)
Member, Central People’s Committee
Awarded Order of Kim il Sung (April)
1985: Promoted General, KPA (April)
1986: Delegate, 8th SPA (November)
1988: Removed as KPA Chief of Staff (February)
Removed from the Political Bureau, CCKWP (April)
Removed from Central Military Committee (April)
Appointed Director of Civil Defense, CCKWP (November)
1989: Appointed Department Director, Strategy Department, CCKWP (July)
1992: Order of Kim il Sung (April)
1994: Member, Kim il Sung Funeral Committee (#45) (July)
1995: Member, O Jin-U Funeral Committee (#43) (February)
1998: Delegate (356 Electoral District), 10th SPA (July)
2003: Delegate, 11th SPA
2009: Appointed Vice Chair, NDC (February)

Ongoing: Member, CCKWP; State Funeral Committee

Jang rival

Ri Jah Gang
Postion held: 1st Vice Department Director, Organization and Guidance, CCKWP
Born: 1930
Education:
Kim il Sung University

Positions held:
1973: Cadre, Organization and Guidance Department, CCKWP
1975: Vice Director, Organization and Guidance Department, CCKWP
2001: 1st Vice Director, Organization and Guidance Department, CCKWP (July)

…

On the list of so-called reliable members of the KPA, General Jang Song-u is near the top. General Jang’s last known position was in the Third Army Corps, whose primary mission is the military defense of Pyongyang. The Third Army Corps is also responsible the maintenance and support of the Kamsusan Memorial Palace, where General Jang serves as a kind of military officer in residence. General Jang has always had the support of his younger brother, Jang Song-taek, and the brothers’ careers have advanced on parallel paths in the KPA and the KWP. Although, due most likely to his military affiliation and the advantage of age (he is eleven years older than Song-taek), General Jang was the first brother admitted to the CCKWP apparatus when he was assigned as a Vice Director of the Organization and Guidance Department CCKWP in 1973. This was the same year that another Kim Jong il associate with KPA duties, Ri Ji Gang, was assigned to Organization and Guidance. Based on the accounts of KPA and DPRK State events from the KCNA, General Jang was neither reassigned nor demoted when his brother was removed from the Organization and Guidance Department and confined to his chalet. Among the capacities in which General Jang has served: he was the commanding military officer in the troop review and parade on the 50th Anniversary of the KWP Foundation in 1995 and; he has assumed interim operational command over the Escort/Bodyguard Units. Jang Song-u occupies the intersection of the politico(politburo)-military structure and the intelligence agencies (including State Security and the Escort/Bodyguard Units). The conjunction of General Jang’s political connections and military assignments give him a significant role in matters concerning succeeding governments to Kim Jong il. In many ways, General Jang’s profile resembles that of those close Kim il Sung aides who eased Kim Jong il into his current job.

Posted in Korean People's Army, Political economy, Supreme Peoples Assembly, Worker's Party | 2 Comments »

DPRK announces military personnel changes

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

UPDATE 2: According to Yonhap:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il appointed his loyal aide to the No. 2 post in the National Defense Commission on Friday, state media said, another sign of the aging leader consolidating his circle.

O Kuk-ryol was named the commission’s vice chairman, second only to Kim, said the North’s Korean Central News Agency.

North Korean media have said little about O, considered to be a combat-savvy veteran who served as the North’s air force commander and chief of the operational department of the ruling Workers’ Party.

Baek Seung-joo, a Seoul-based analyst, said O helped Kim Jong-il win support from the military in the early 1980s after he was tapped as successor of his father and North Korean founder Kim Il-sung.

“O is a senior military figure whom Kim Jong-il trusts,” Baek said.

O, 78, replaces Kim Yong-chun, who was recently promoted as minister of the People’s Armed Forces, the counterpart of South Korea’s Defense Ministry.

N. Korean leader promotes loyal aide in military shakeup
Yonhap
2/20/2009

UPDATE: A short biography of Kim Yong Chun (Big h/t again to Mike):

Born 1936, Kangwon Province

Education
Mangyongdae Revolutionary School
Kim Il Sung University

Positions Held
1960: Secretary, South Phyongan Provincial Committee
1980: Alternate Member, CCKWP (October)
1982: Lieutenant General, Korean People’s Army (year presumed)
1986: Director-General, Strategy Department, delegate to 8th SPA (November), and member of CCKWP (6th term, 12th plenary session, December)
1987: Order of Kim il Sung Award (April)
1990: Delegate, 9th SPA, representing Solbong, Kangwon (April)
1992: Appointed General, KPA (April)
1993: Director-General, General Munitions Mobilization Bureau, KPA (October)
1994: Commanding Officer, KPA Sixth Army Corps (March) and member of Kim il Sung Funeral Committee (July)
1995: Member of O Jin-u Funeral Committee (February), appointed Vice-Marshal and Chief of Staff, KPA (October)
1998: Delegate, 10th SPA (July), appointed to the NDC (September)
2007: Elected Vice Chairman of the NDC, at the ninth session of the 11th SPA (April)
2009: Appointed as Minister of People’s Armed Forces (February)

Ongoing: Member of the CCKWP and the State Funeral Committee

According to KCNA, Ri Young ho was last promoted in 2002:

Pyongyang, April 14 (KCNA) — Kim Jong Il, Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army, issued order no.00152 to raise the military ranks of KPA commanding officers on the occasion of the Day of the Sun. According to the order dated April 13, Kim Yun Sim, Kim Jong Gak and Ryo Cyun Sok were promoted to generals.

The military rank of colonel general was conferred on Paek Sang Ho, Kang Yong Ho, Ri Thae Il, Kim Yang Jom and Pak Sung Won and that of lieut. General on Ri Yong Ho, Ri Yong Gil, Hwang Hong Sik, Pak Su Chol and Pang Kuk Hwan. Ri Yong Rae and 39 others were promoted to major generals.

Coincidentally, on that same day in 2002 KCNA announces that Jang Song Taek’s brother was given a military promotion:

Military rank of KPA vice marshal conferred on Jang Song U

Pyongyang, April 14 (KCNA) — The military rank of vice marshal of the Korean People’s Army was conferred on Jang Song U, according to the April 13 joint decision of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the DPRK National Defence Commission.

ORIGINAL POST:
According to KCNA yesterday:

Minister of People’s Armed Forces and Chief of General Staff Newly Appointed in DPRK

Pyongyang, February 11 (KCNA) — A decision of the DPRK National Defence Commission and the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea was released on February 11 in the name of Kim Jong Il, chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission and chairman of the WPK Central Military Commission.

Vice Marshal of the Korean People’s Army Kim Yong Chun was appointed as minister of the People’s Armed Forces of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK and KPA General Ri Yong Ho as chief of the KPA General Staff, according to the decision.

Former Defense Minister, Kim il Chol, was 70 when he was appointed to the post in 1998. According to the media at the time:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has picked Vice Marshal Kim Il Chol, a close confidant, as defense minister, virtually completing a reorganization of the military, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Tuesday.

The KCNA report monitored in Tokyo said Kim Il Chol, about 70 years old, was promoted from first vice minister to minister of the People’s Armed Forces.

The post of defense minister had been vacant since the death of Choe Kwang in February 1997.

Kim Jong Il issued the order Monday in his capacity as chairman of the National Defense Commission (NDC), a post which makes him North Korea’s head of state under the revised Constitution.

The Supreme People’s Assembly, the North’s parliament, revised the country’s 1972 Constitution on Saturday, abolishing the state presidency.

Kim Il Chol was a frequent companion of Kim Jong Il, the supreme commander of the North Korean army.

These changes come at the same time as other personnel changes are announced. See related posts here and here.

Hat tip to Mike.

Posted in Korean People's Army, Military, Ministry of People’s Armed Forces, National Defense Commission | 3 Comments »

CIA publishes 2008 “DPRK who’s who”

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

UPDATE: The South Korean Ministry of Unifications offers a more comprehensive organization chart of North Korea’s various political organs. I should point out that this is a dejure (not defacto) organizational chart.

ORIGINAL POST:
(Hat tip to Mike Madden for the link)

After the ministerial shakeups in the DPRK were discovered last week, the US Central Intelligence Agency updated their list of DPRK VIPs. It will come as no surprise that Kim Jong il managed to maintain control of his three titles: General Secretary Korean Workers’ Party, Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army, and Chairman of the National Defence Commission.

The full list can be viewed on the CIA’s web page here.

Posted in Korean People's Army, National Defense Commission, Worker's Party | 10 Comments »

The Relationship between the Party and the Army under the Military-First Policy

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

Daily NK
Choi Choel Hee
10/21/2008

With Kim Jong Il’s condition an issue, there has been a lot of talk about North Korea’s government system in the post-Kim Jong Il era.

Due to the strengthened military influence caused by the military-first policy, one prediction is that a military-based collective leadership system may take power after Kim Jong Il.

However, a defector who used to be a high-ranking official in North Korea pointed out that this prediction comes from an incorrect understanding about the relationship between the Party and the military.

Hwang Jang Yop, who is a former Secretary of International Affairs of the Workers’ Party, has said that not military authorities but the Party would likely grasp power after Kim Jong Il’s death.

I. Chosun (North Korea) People’s Army Is the Army of the Party

According to the Regulations of the Workers’ Party, the Chosun People’s Army is defined as “the revolutionary military power of the Workers’ Party.” Separate from the regular chain of command in the Army, Party members are assigned to each unit to command them. That is, there are two command structures: a military chain of command and the Party’s organizational system.

The People’s Army is controlled by the Party Committee of the Chosun People’s Army under the Military Committee of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party. The chief secretary of the Party Committee of the Chosun People’s Army is Cho Myung Rok, who also holds the position of Director of the General Political Bureau of the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces. His roles are to inform the Army of the Party’s instructions and regulations and to monitor and supervise the Army to make sure it adheres to the Party’s will and regulations.

At the same time, the highest political apparatus in the military, the General Political Bureau, is under surveillance of the Guidance Department of the Central Committee of the Party. Therefore, a Vice-Director of the Guidance Department of the Central Committee presides over the military while the military command system is always subordinate to the Party command system.

Regarding this relationship between the Party and the military, Hwang Jang Yop, the former Secretary of International Affairs of the Party, gave as an example “the Sixth Corps’ Coup d’état case,” and said that, “The suspected leaders of the coup were shot at once in a hall. The figure who ordered and carried out the massacre of the conspirators was Kim Young Choon, the Vice-Director of the National Defense Commission, but the political manager behind everything was Jang Sung Tae, Director of the Ministry of Administration, one of the departments under the Central Committee of the Party. This implies that there are different management systems overseeing the military — those of the military itself and those of the Party.”

II. The Right of Personnel Management and of Inspection Over the Military

The reason why the Director of the Guidance Department holds such a powerful influence is that the Director has the right to manage personnel and inspect the military.

Even the right to implement personnel management within the Army goes to the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party. The members of the Secretariat are the Director of the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces, the Army Chief of Staff, the Director of the General Political Department, the Director of the Operations Department, and, in some cases, the commander of the Defense Security Command of the Army is included.

The Guidance Department of the Party maintains the right to inspect the Army. The scariest inspections for the military are the ones by the Guidance Department. On a rumor that the Guidance Department is coming, a few military officials are usually purged.

The fact is well known that Kim Jong Il himself also holds power over the military through controlling the Guidance Department.

The posts in charge of the military within the Guidance Department are the No. 13 Life Guidance Department and the No. 4 Cadre Department. Department #13 directly controls and instructs the operations of the Army Committee of the Central Committee of the Party and General Political Department of the Party.

III. Department #13 and Department #4 of the Guidance Department

The roles of these two departments are to monitor how well the Army follows the ideology and the leadership of Kim Jong Il, and whether or not party organizations and political organizations within the Army are operated well by the Party leadership. The Army Committee of the Party and the General Political Bureau doesn’t have the authority to make decisions, so it has to consult with Department #13 before taking action.

The Vice-Director of the Guidance Department is in charge of Department #13. The offices of Department #13 are located in the building of the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces due to its association with the General Political Department of the People’s Army.

It also oversees the Army Committee of the Central Committee, the General Political Department, and the Army Committee. Department #13 participates in the major military meetings including the ideological struggle meeting. It hosts an annual fifteen-day-long Guidance Department lecture of the Party for military officials.

The No. 4 cadre department has the final say over personnel matters regarding high military officials. Officials whose rank is higher than brigadier general must be approved by the Guidance Department. After the Guidance Department signs off, posts and military title can be granted by the order of the supreme commander of the People’s Army. Therefore, the Guidance Department of the Party holds absolute control over the Army through exercising its right of personnel management of the officials.

Posted in Central Miltary Committee, Committee of the Korean People’s Army, Korean People's Army, KPA General Political Bureau, Military, Ministry of Administration, Ministry of People’s Armed Forces, Organization and Guidance Department, Secretariat, Uncategorized, Worker's Party | Comments Closed

N.Korea’s Leading Apparatchiks

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

Choson Ilbo
9/18/2008

Gen. Hyon Chol-hae, the 74-year-old deputy director of the general political department of the North Korean People’s Army (KPA) has been North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s most frequent companion on official occasions. Hyon has accompanied Kim, who is said to be recovering from a stroke, on 32 occasions this year.

In analysis of senior North Korean officials who have accompanied Kim on his inspections of various facilities until Aug. 14, Hyon was followed by Gen. Ri Myong-su (71), director of the administrative department of the National Defense Commission (29 occasions); Kim Ki-nam (82), director of the propaganda department of the North Korean Workers’ Party (KWP) (22 occasions); Pak Nam-gi (74), director of the planning and fiscal affairs department of the KWP (10 occasions); Kim Jong-gak (62), first vice-director of the KPA’s general political department, Pak To-chun, chief secretary of the WPK Jagang Provincial Committee, Kim Kyok-sik, chief of the KPA general staff (seven occasions); Jang Song-taek (62), director of the administrative department of the KWP (five occasions); and North Korea’s first vice foreign minister Kang Sok-ju (67) (five occasions).

During these inspections, Kim has given instructions to military officers, government officials and plant managers. The more often these elderly men accompany Kim, the closer the Unification Ministry, which carried out the analysis, considers them to the North Korean leader. Hyon, Ri, Kim and Pak ranked first through fourth in 2007 as well

Song Dae-sung, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, said there is no big change in the ranking order of those closest aides to Kim Jong-il, who are assisting Kim on his sickbed or governing North Korea on his behalf.

Hyon Chol-hae
The KPA’s general political department, which Hyon controls as deputy director, is in charge of the entire KPA organization. A graduate of the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School, which families and descendants of the anti-Japanese partisans attend, he controls the school’s graduates, most of whom serve in the military. During the Korean War, he was Kim Il-sung’s bodyguard. He accompanied Kim junior on his visit to China in 2001.

Hyon stood on the platform alongside other North Korean leaders during a military parade on North Korea’s 60th anniversary on Sept. 9. According to analysts, normally only vice marshals or higher-ranking military officers are allowed to stand on the platform, and Hyon, a general, was an unprecedented exception.

Suh Jae-jean, director of the Korea Institute for National Unification, said, “It seems that Hyon Chol-hae is currently running North Korea behind the scenes. He is expected to play a leading role in laying the foundation for the post-Kim Jong-il era according to Kim’s wishes.” The institute says Hyon also has connections with Kim’s second son Jong-chol (27).

Ri Myong-su
Ri is director of the administrative department of the National Defense Commission, North Korea’s de facto supreme leadership. As the NDC’s administrative department director, he controls inspection and intelligence activities within the KPA. Until last year, he was under Kim Jong-il’s direct command as the director of the KPA’s operations department.

Ri emerged as a strongman in the process of Kim’s succession to power in the 1970s, by displaying loyalty to him. He has been Kim’s second most frequent companion since 2003.

Ryu Dong-ryeol, a researcher at the Police Science Institute, said, “Hyon and Ri directly report to Kim Jong-il.”

Kim Ki-nam
Kim is a well-known figure in South Korea since making an unannounced visit to the Seoul National Cemetery when he was in Seoul as the chief of a North Korean delegation to a “Unification Festival” marking Liberation Day on Aug. 15, 2005. He is Kim’s mouthpiece as secretary for propaganda for the KWP Central Committee. He was the editor-in-chief of the Rodong Shinmun, the organ of the KWP Central Committee, in 1976. In 1985, he was appointed director of the propaganda department of the KWP Central Committee.

Lee Ki-dong, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Strategy, said, “Kim Ki-nam will be in charge of publicizing at home and abroad Kim Jong-il’s decision about a successor.”

Pak Nam-gi
Pak is in charge of North Korea’s economy. Since 1976, he has worked as an economic expert as vice chairman of the State Planning Commission, the agency that controls North Korea’s planned economy.

As the first vice-director of the KPA’s general political department, Kim Jong-gak is in charge of propaganda within the military. Kim Kyok-sik assumed the post as the chief of KPA general staff in April last year, and Pak To-chun has served as the chief secretary of the KWP Jagang Provincial Committee since 2005.

Jang Song-taek, Kim Jong-il’s brother-in-law, fell out of favor with Kim in May 2004. But he came back in 2006 and has since controlled powerful agencies such as the Ministry of Public Security and the State Security Department, and prosecutors’ offices. He is reportedly close to Kim’s eldest son Jong-nam (37).

Kang Sok-ju played a major role in reaching the U.S.-North Korean Geneva Agreement in 1994.

Posted in Administrative Department (KWP), Agitation and Propaganda Department, Korean People's Army, KPA General Political Bureau, National Defense Commission, Planning and Fiscal Affairs (KWP), Political economy, Worker's Party | Comments Closed

North Korean Economy Watch