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North Korean Policy Elites - Defense Technical Information Center

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leader, and an individualized conglomerate of military and civilian leadership. 9 In many respects,<br />

it is this Confucian culture that lends legitimacy to the leader and his regime.<br />

From its earliest days, the <strong>North</strong> <strong>Korean</strong> regime practiced nepotism, placing Kim Ilsung’s<br />

relatives and close associates into key posts in the ruling troika (party, state, and military)<br />

as part of the father-to-son dynastic succession plan. Under Kim Il-sung, relatives held about 24<br />

key positions in the <strong>North</strong> <strong>Korean</strong> apparatus.<br />

Table II-1. Key Family Members in the Kim Il-sung Regime<br />

Name Relation Position Ranking<br />

Kim Il-sung General Secretary, President 1<br />

Kim Chong-il Eldest son of Kim Il-sung Politburo, Secretariat,<br />

2<br />

Chairman of NDC<br />

Kang Song-san Younger maternal cousin of Politburo, Premier 4<br />

Kim Il-sung<br />

Pak Song-chol Son-in-law of Kim Hyongnok,<br />

uncle of<br />

Kim Il-sung<br />

Politburo<br />

Vice President<br />

5<br />

Kim Tal-hyon<br />

Kim Yong-sun<br />

Hwang Changyop<br />

Kim Chung-nin<br />

Kim Chang-chu<br />

Kang Sok-sung<br />

Yang Hyong-sop<br />

Husband of Kim Il-sung’s<br />

second niece<br />

Younger brother of Kim<br />

Chong-suk, ex-wife of Kim<br />

Il-sung<br />

Husband of Kim Il-sung’s<br />

niece<br />

Wife of Kim Yong-chu,<br />

younger brother of Kim Ilsung<br />

Son of Kim Hyong-nok,<br />

uncle of Kim Il-sung<br />

Relative of Kim Il-sung on<br />

his mother’s side<br />

Husband of Kim Sin-suk,<br />

daughter of<br />

Kim Il-sung’s father’s sister<br />

Alternate Politburo,<br />

Deputy Premier,<br />

Chairman, External Economic<br />

Commission,<br />

Trade Minister<br />

Alternate Politburo<br />

Secretariat<br />

Chief, KWP<br />

International Dept.<br />

Secretariat<br />

Vice Chairman, Committee for<br />

Peaceful Unification<br />

Secretariat, Chairman,<br />

Qualifications Committee<br />

(Central<br />

People’s Assembly)<br />

14<br />

19<br />

27<br />

28<br />

Deputy Premier 32<br />

Head, Institute of KWP History 38<br />

Chairman, SPA 42<br />

9 Kim Byung-ki and Soh Chang-rok, “The Dilemma of <strong>North</strong> <strong>Korean</strong> Reform: Where is it Going?” East Asian<br />

Review, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Winter 2000), pp. 105-19.<br />

II-8

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