Kim Yong-chun
Kim Yong-chun | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of People's Armed Forces | |
| In office February 2009 – April 2012 | |
| Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea | |
| In office 9 April 2009 – 13 April 2014 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 March 1936 |
| Died | 16 August 2018 (aged 82) Pyongyang, North Korea |
| Party | Workers' Party of Korea |
| Alma mater | Kim Il Sung Military University Frunze Military Academy |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | North Korea North Korea |
| Branch/service | File:Flag of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (Normal).svg Korean People's Army |
| Years of service | 1986–2018 |
| Rank | File:Marshal of the KPA rank insignia.svg Marshal |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 김영춘 |
| Hanja | 金永春; 金英春 [1] |
| RR | Gim Yeongchun |
| MR | Kim Yŏngch'un |
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Kim Yong-chun (Korean: 김영춘; 4 March 1936 – 16 August 2018) was a North Korean soldier and politician. He was a leader of the North Korean military. He held the North Korean military rank Chasu (Vice Marshal), was Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, and was Minister of People's Armed Forces (roughly corresponds to Minister of Defence in other countries).[2][3] He held a minor post within the Workers Party.[3]
Early life
[edit | edit source]Kim was born in 1936 in Pochon County, Kankyōnan Province, Korea, Empire of Japan (now in Ryanggang Province, North Korea). He attended the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School and the Kim Il Sung Military University before starting his career in the party apparatus and the Korean People's Army.
Career
[edit | edit source]He served as secretary of the South Pyongyang Provincial Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in the 1960s and was elected alternate member of the WPK Central Committee in 1980 at the 6th Party Congress. In 1986 he was elevated to Central Committee full member, director of the KPA General Staff Operations Bureau and deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly. He was abruptly purged in 1988 along with Chief of General Staff O Kuk-ryol for disputes with O Jin-u.[4]Lua error: Internal error: The interpreter exited with status 1.
Kim Yong-chun reappeared in the 1990s as he was promoted to general and director of the General Munitions Mobilization Bureau. He also oversaw the disbandment of the North Hamgyong Province's Sixth Army Corps, accused of corruption. In 1995, after O Jin-u's death, he was promoted to Vice Marshal and Chief of the KPA General Staff, a post he held until 2007, when he was appointed a vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission.
Kim Yong-chun was reputedly close to Kim Jong Il and a member of his court of aides.[4] He received new promotions in 2009 as Minister of People's Armed Forces and in 2010 as member of the Politburo and the Central Military Commission.
In December 2011, after the leader's death, he was ranked 5th among members of the Kim Jong Il funeral committee, immediately after Kim Jong Un and the Politburo Presidium members (Kim Yong-nam, Choe Yong-rim and Ri Yong-ho), signalling his powerful position in the new leadership.[5]
He was replaced as Minister by Kim Jong-gak and appointed director of the WPK Civil Defense Department in April 2012.[3] Although displaced from all significant leading posts, he was awarded the largely honorary rank of Marshal of the Korean People's Army in April 2016.[6]
Death
[edit | edit source]Kim Yong-chun died on 16 August 2018 from myocardial infarction, aged 82. Many notable figures were involved on his funeral committee, including Kim Jong Un and Kim Yong-nam.[7]
Awards and honors
[edit | edit source]A frame with Kim's awards and honors was displayed during his funeral, showing all the decorations he had received.[8]
File:DPRK ribbon bar - Hero of the Republic V2.svg Hero of the Republic
File:PRK Order of Kim Il Sung BAR.png Order of Kim Il Sung, twice
File:PRK Order of Kim Il Sung BAR.png Order of Kim Jong Il
File:DPRK ribbon bar - Order of National Flag 1st Class.svg Order of the National Flag First Class, eight times
File:DPRK Order of Labor.png Order of Korean Labour, twice
File:KPA Foundation Commemorative Order.png Commemorative Order "Anniversary of the Foundation of the People's Army", twice
File:DPRK 20th Anniversary Order.png Commemorative Order "20th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea", twice
File:DPRK 20th Anniversary Order.png Commemorative Order "Foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea", twice
File:PRK Order of the National Flag - 2nd Class BAR.png Order of the National Flag Second Class, twice
File:FreedomAndIndependence2Ribbon.jpg Order of Freedom and Independence Second Class
File:DPRK 20th Anniversary Order.png Commemorative Order "50th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea", twice
File:DPRK Order of Three Great Revolutions.png Order of the Red Banner of Three Great Revolutions
File:Commemorative Order 40th Anniversary of Fatherland Liberation War Victory ribbon.png Commemorative Order "40th Anniversary of Fatherland Liberation War Victory"
File:DPRK ribbon bar - Order of National Flag 3rd Class.svg Order of the National Flag Third Class, three times
File:DPRK Military Merit Medal.png Medal For Military Merit, twice
File:FatherlandLiberationRibbon.jpg Commemorative Medal "Fatherland Liberation"
File:Commemorative Medal Anniversary of the Foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ribbon.gif Commemorative Medal "The Foundation of the People's Republic of Korea", twice
He also received multiple watches signed with Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il's signature.
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ 북한軍 실세는 혁명 2세대 70代
- ^ <추가>북, 총리에 김영일, 국방위 부위원장에 김영춘 선임 (in Korean) Tongil News
- ^ a b c Lua error: Internal error: The interpreter exited with status 1.
- ^ a b VMAR Kim Yong Chun, North Korea Leadership Watch. Accessdate: 2018-08-21
- ^ All eyes set on Kim Jong Il's funeral committee list Lua error: Internal error: The interpreter exited with status 1., Asahi Shimbun, December 27, 2011.
- ^ Lua error: Internal error: The interpreter exited with status 1.
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