North Korean Policy Elites - Defense Technical Information Center

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Table IV-1. Composition of the National Security Establishment (continued) Organization Name Title Ministry of People’s Security 17 Ch’oe Ryong-su Ri Yong-il So Chun-bong Kang Yong-ho Choe Mun-dok Minister, Four-star General Deputy Minister, LTG Deputy Minister, LTG Deputy Minister, Col.-Gen. (promoted on 4/13/02) Chief of the Political Bureau of MPS Central Public Prosecutor’s Office Ri Kil Song Public Prosecutor General, Four-star General Central Court Kim Pyong Ryul President, Four-star General Kim Il Sung Military University 18 Choe In-duk Vice-Marshal, President (since 1982) Defense Industry Policy and Inspection Chon Pyong-ho Chairman Department under the Central Military Committee of the WPKCC Second Economic Committee under Kim Ch’ol Man Chairman, Army General NDC (retired) Atomic Energy Committee under the WPK CC n.a. General Bureau of Atomic Energy (under the Cabinet of Ministers) Ch’oe Hak-kun Li Je-seon Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Dr. Ri Hong Sop Director Center 19 Former Director-General Current Director-General The core members of the national security establishment still come from the so-called “1980 group,” a small group of the second generation of party and military leaders who were rapidly promoted upon Kim Il Sung’s instructions following the Sixth WPK Party Congress in 17 Vice-Marshal Paek Hak-nim, a longtime loyal supporter of the Kim family, had served as the Minister of People’s Security from 1982 to July 1, 2003. Curiously, although Paek Hak-nim had been absent from work since March 2003 due to his failing health, he was officially removed from his post on July 1, 2003, just two weeks after the ill-fated “car crash accident” on June 16, 2003, that lethally wounded Kim Jong Il’s right-hand aide, close personal friend, and one of the masterminds of the DPRK’s strategy of accelerated reconciliation with the South and normalization with Japan, the WPK CC Secretary in charge of international affairs, Kim Yong Sun. 18 The military education and training establishment is part and parcel of the national security establishment. It includes the faculty, staff, students, and alumni of the Kim Il Sung Military University, Kim Il Sung Political University, Kim Hyuk Security Academy, Kanggun Military (Army) Academy, Kim Jung-sook Naval Academy, Kim Ch’ul-chu Artillery Academy, Kim Chaek Air Force College, and the Mirim College (otherwise known as the Automated Warfare Academy). 19 Also, one should mention Choi Kil Man, Assistant Director of the Center; Li Yong-ho, Chief of Safeguards Section; Kim Haik Soon, Senior Center Researcher; and Pak Chang Su, Center Researcher; as well as Li Song Hwan, Chief Engineer of the 5 Mwe reactor; and Li Yong Song, Chief Engineer of the Radiochemical Laboratory. These are the people who provide critical input to the DPRK’s leadership regarding the technical aspects of the North Korean nuclear program. See Siegfried S. Hecker, testimony at the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Hearing on the “Visit to the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center in North Korea,” January 21, 2004. IV-22
October 1980. Many of them (Yon Hyong Muk, Chon Byong-ho, 20 Kim Yong Nam, Ch’oe Thae-bok, 21 and Yun Gi Bok) were born in the North Hamgyong Province, attended the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School, graduated from the Kim Il Sung University, and studied at one of the Soviet universities early in life. They constituted Kim Jong Il’s key support group during the process of dynastic succession and power consolidation in the ensuing two decades. At the Sixth Party Congress, the WPK Central Committee Secretariat was reshuffled and stacked with Kim Jong Il’s loyalists, with many new faces added, including five new party secretaries – Yon Hyong Muk, Chon Byong-ho, Kim Yong Nam, Ch’oe Thae-bok, and Kim Jung-rin, who occupy the key positions in the North Korean government today. 22 The “1980 group” also included the following rising generals, who acted as Kim Jong Il’s trusted eyes and ears within the DPRK’s armed forces and security apparatus: Cho Myong Rok, Kim Il Ch’ol, 23 O Guk Ryol (later purged but rehabilitated), Kim Kang Hwan (passed away), Kim Du Nam, 24 Ri Bong Won (later purged and executed), and Ch’oe Sang Uk. No wonder that Kim Jong Il feels comfortable 20 Chon Byong-ho, born in 1926, is a WPK CC Secretary in charge of the Defense Industries. For a long time, he had served as Yon Hyong Muk’s deputy in various establishments. For instance, when Yon Hyong Muk was the Director of the Machine-Building Department in the WPK CC in the late 1970s, Chon Byong-ho was his Deputy Director. When Yon Hyong Muk moved to head the First Economic Department of the WPK Central Committee in the early 1980s, Chon Byong-ho followed him as his deputy Director again. When Yon Hyong Muk was elected a member of the WPK CC Political Bureau, he “pulled” Chon Byong-ho together with him, by recommending that Chon be elected an Alternate Member of the Political Bureau at the Sixth Plenum of the Sixth WPK CC in 1986. When Yon Hyong Muk was appointed the Premier of the Administrative Council, Chon Byong-ho was made one of his Deputy Premiers. Clearly, Yon Hyong Muk and Chon Byong-ho are close friends and their careers in the party and government are closely linked and interdependent. 21 Ch’oe Thae-bok, born in 1929, is Chairman of the SPA Presidium and Alternate Member of the WPK Political Bureau. Choe Thae-bok has long been regarded as a rising progressive star on the North Korean political horizon. He received his higher education in East Germany and the former USSR and can speak fluent German, good Russian, and a little bit of English. Choe Thae-bok is said to be a protégé of Kim Il Sung’s relative Yang Hyongsop, who had long been in charge of education in the DPRK. He emerged as one of the leading representatives of the “1980 group” at the Sixth WPK Party Congress. From 1980 to 1986, he served as the Chairman of the Education Committee. In December 1986, he followed his friends, Yon Hyong Muk and Chon Byong-ho, from the Administrative Council to the WPK Central Committee. As early as the 1980s, Ch’oe is said to come to recognize the DPRK’s economic problems and the ROK’s economic accomplishments. He is said to be very popular among the student youth and those North Koreans who studied abroad. Several thousands of the North Koreans who attended Eastern European universities in the 1980s (over 1000 in the USSR, 600 in the Czechoslovakia, 800 in the GDR, 400 in Poland, 600 in the PRC) believe that they were able to study abroad and learn about the outside world only because of his policy of expanding student exchanges under the auspices of his Committee on Education under the Administrative Council, despite the opposition from the then WPK CC hardliners. Choe Thae-bok is rumored to have been one of the driving forces behind the resumption of the student exchanges between the DPRK and the rest of the world in the early 2000s. Ch’oe Thae-bok is known as a very intelligent person who is able to admit his own mistakes and is open to self-criticism. 22 Among the four remaining party secretaries from the “1980 group,” three men passed away – Yun Gi-bok in 2003, Kim Hwan, and Hong Si Hak, whereas Hwang Jang Yop defected to the ROK in 1997. Hong Song Nam, WPK CC Secretary in charge of Economic Policy, is also considered to be a member of the 1980 group. 23 Kim Il Ch’ol, born in 1928, is the Minister of the People’s Armed Forces now. 24 Kim Du Nam, born in 1927, is an Army General and Member of the WPK CC Central Military Commission. Kim Du Nam is the brother of Kim Yong Nam, Chairman of the SPA Presidium. IV-23
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INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES Nort
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INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES IDA
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CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY & INTROD
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To write accurately about North Kor
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technocrats, provincial and county
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PREFACE This paper will examine in
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ABBREVIATIONS AGI CCSKA COMSEC DoD
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information streams, and from him t
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within the hands of a few individua
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and whether or not he will embarras
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to the lowest-levels of the KPA. As
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strengthening of all armed forces,
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esearch institutes and “think tan
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The primary missions of the Reconna
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communication that generally fall o
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of the State Security Department or
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maintaining strict control over the
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agencies in the ROK and Japan began
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The Guard and Security Commands, wh
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eports that are funneled up through
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Complicating the entire “Kim-cent
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Within the military, this dynamic c
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him that all significant orders and
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Until the 1990s, the electronic med
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II. THE NORTH KOREAN LEADERSHIP: SY
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TABLES 1. Key Family Members in the
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The factional struggles in North Ko
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A. INTRODUCTION By definition, a to
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C. THE TECHNOLOGY OF POWER A Party
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document control bureaus in each mi
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Originally implemented in 1994 and
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Table II-1. Key Family Members in t
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of associates who trace their relat
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September 9, 2003, showed a change
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Chart II-2: Secretariat 5. Kye Ung-
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Members 1. Yi Ul-sul 4. Yi Yong-mu
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Table II-6. Kim Chong-il’s Princi
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Table II-7. Kim Chong-il’s Person
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chance to unfold. In terms of syste
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domestic policy arena, the split is
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At the second echelon of power, Kim
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D. FLOW OF INFORMATION George Kenna
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about things that affect their care
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(ID) and External Liaison (ELD) dep
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For the rest of the North Korean le
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the focus for not only a significan
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At the 11 th Supreme People’s Ass
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There is little doubt that one of t
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decision-making process. Moreover,
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III. THE WELL-INFORMED CADRE RALPH
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DEFINITIONS AND A
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greater access to first-hand inform
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The first question addressed by thi
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But this lack of enthusiasm is prob
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as the 1950s. 16 The security organ
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Another way to look at divisions wi
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Because the Kim regime governs acco
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guess is that anyone who rises in t
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But even though the media serve as
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Newspapers The DPRK’s premier new
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Page 140 and 141: This selection of news items presen
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Page 146 and 147: also countries surrounding the Kore
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Page 152 and 153: eceived with little thought and has
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Page 159: IV. INSIDE NORTH KOREA’S BLACK BO
Page 163 and 164: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The North Korean
Page 165 and 166: A. BETTER, MERRIER, MORE HOPEFUL LI
Page 167 and 168: In contrast, the optimists believe
Page 169 and 170: to the throne. The State Council us
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Page 181 and 182: also against the second-tier family
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Page 185: “National Security Establishment
Page 189 and 190: severe draught in 1988 and the dram
Page 192 and 193: The advent of the “Songun Era”
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Page 196 and 197: Bearing in mind Kim Jong Il’s rec
Page 198 and 199: Table IV-2. Composition of the Nort
Page 200 and 201: Cabinet Posts 10 th SPA 11 th SPA R
Page 202 and 203: Eastern Europe. That was reportedly
Page 204 and 205: Table IV-5. Leading Ideologues Insi
Page 206 and 207: Table IV-7. Regional Origins of Top
Page 208 and 209: “Foreign Wind” The “foreign w
Page 210 and 211: Table IV-10. Some of the Most Influ
Page 212 and 213: Table IV-11. The North-South “Han
Page 214 and 215: Song Sok Hwan Vice-Minister Cha Sun
Page 216 and 217: Table IV-13. Korean-American “Int
Page 218 and 219: content and government monitoring.
Page 220 and 221: Northern security, military, and pa
Page 223: APPENDIX B TONGIL STREET FREE MARKE
Page 227: V. REACHING INTO NORTH KOREA DAVID
Page 231 and 232: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY North Korea is no
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isk escape from the hermit kingdom.
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Society is divided into three broad
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contradictions.” 17 This makes se
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Internet is not specifically mentio
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led to a training program for young
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North Korea’s exports from legiti
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een the biggest buyers of ivory ove
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worker who travels throughout North
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If we want to reach into North Kore
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conversations with the correct mix
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Although the future of cellular tel
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There are a host of other things on
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Each of the five papers in this col
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promotions) and punishments (e.g.,
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although presumably all calls are m
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cultural rules.” Given the “str
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Speaking of Kim, whom does he consu
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Terms of Reference: North Korean Po
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Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. is an intern
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APPENDIX C ASIAN VIEWS OF NORTH KOR
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In any case, the reforms provide a
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View from Seoul The single most imp
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Form Approved REPORT DOCUMENTATION
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