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North Korean Policy Elites - Defense Technical Information Center

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Table IV-2. Composition of the <strong>North</strong> <strong>Korean</strong> “Old Guard”<br />

Name Year of Birth Position<br />

Kim Yong Nam 39 1925 President of the SPA Presidium<br />

Cho Myong-rok 1924 Director of the KPA General Political Department<br />

Pak Song Chol 1913 Honorary Vice-President of the SPA Presidium<br />

Kim Yong-ju 1920 Honorary Vice-President of the SPA Presidium, Kim Il Sung’s<br />

younger brother<br />

Kim Yong-ch’un 1922 Chief of the KPA General Staff<br />

Han Song Ryong 1923 WPK Politburo Member<br />

Kye Ung Thae 1925 WPK Politburo Member<br />

Ri Yong-mu 1924 Vice-Chairman of the National <strong>Defense</strong> Commission<br />

Ri Ul-Sol (retired in 1920 Marshal, former Minister of State Security Agency<br />

2003)<br />

Paek Hak Rim<br />

1918 Vice-Marshal, former Minister of the People’s Security<br />

(retired in March<br />

2003)<br />

Kim Ch’ol-man<br />

(retired in 2003)<br />

1918 Full General, Former Chairman of the Second Economic<br />

Committee<br />

Yang Hyong-sop 1925 Vice-President of the SPA Presidium,<br />

Kim Il Sung’s relative<br />

Hong Sok-hyung 1924 SPA Presidium<br />

Kim Guk-tae 1924 WPK CC Secretary, Chief of the Cadres Department<br />

Kim Jung-rin 40 1924 WPK CC Secretary (Mass Organizations)<br />

Kim Yun-hyok 1926 Secretary-General of the SPA Presidium<br />

Although some representatives of the “old guard” still occupy important positions at the<br />

Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the 11th SPA in general is a relatively middleaged,<br />

university-educated, civilian technocrat-dominated, and professionally oriented expertdriven<br />

institution comprising the <strong>North</strong> <strong>Korean</strong> intellectual elite, with little military<br />

representation, despite the era of Songun politics. As a matter of fact, on August 3, 2003, out of<br />

687 deputies, 340 deputies were elected for the first time, which means that 51% of the 10th SPA<br />

deputies were replaced with new people at the 11th SPA. Moreover, 52% of them are younger<br />

than the age of 50, including fourteen SPA deputies, probably some of the off-spring of the<br />

current DPRK leaders, who are younger than the age of 35. Such a drastic revamping and<br />

rejuvenation of the SPA deputy corps and top ranks of the Cabinet of Ministers led some<br />

observers to brand the newly elected and appointed third-generation leaders of the DPRK as the<br />

“2003 group.”<br />

39 Kim Yong Nam is said to be a rather cunning and cautious politician, who always hesitates to make principled<br />

decisions on his own. He is known to prefer to sit on the fence and wait until the dust settles before he makes his<br />

own moves.<br />

40 Kim Jung-rin is known to be a sullen and uncommunicative individual who chain smokes cigarettes and only<br />

listens to his counterpart, but rarely speaks.<br />

IV-34

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