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North Korean Policy Elites - Defense Technical Information Center

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of associates who trace their relationship to him from different angles. This not only necessitated<br />

a very cautious power building strategy based on letting first generation leaders die off and<br />

elevating second generation leaders to key posts, it also made it vital that Kim Chong-il not tie<br />

his ability to lead strictly to the formal leadership. 13 As such, Kim retains some of Kim Il-song’s<br />

close associates to serve as a bridge to the country’s revolutionary past. Most of the key positions<br />

within the regime, however, are occupied by people of Kim’s generation who hail from the<br />

Three Revolution Movement squads, the classmates of the Mangyongdae Revolutionary Institute,<br />

and the graduates of the Nassan School and the Kim Il-sung University, all key institutions in<br />

Kim Chong-il’s background. The table below illustrates some of the most prominent leaders<br />

within the Kim Chong-il regime and their critical relationships.<br />

Table II-4. Illustrative Relationships in the Kim Chong-il Regime<br />

Name Position Relationship(s)<br />

Kim Kyong-hui Director, KWP Light<br />

Industry Department<br />

Kim Yong-nam President, SPA Brother of Kim Tu-nam,<br />

former military aide –decamp<br />

to Kim Il-sung and<br />

Kim Ki-nam. May be<br />

related to Kim Chong-il<br />

through marriage.<br />

Kim Yong-sun<br />

Former KWP<br />

Secretary for<br />

ROK/Japan Affairs<br />

(deceased)<br />

Close friend of Kim<br />

Kyong-hui<br />

Yon Hyong-muk Member NDC Related to a partisan<br />

compatriot of Kim Il-sung.<br />

Yon also reportedly had a<br />

close relationship with the<br />

late Kim.<br />

Kim Chol-Man Former Member<br />

NDC<br />

Kim Chong-il<br />

Relationship<br />

Kim Chong-il’s sister.<br />

Wife of Chang Songtaek.<br />

In 1960s, helped<br />

purge KWP<br />

International<br />

Department of Pak<br />

Kum-chol/Pak Yongkuk<br />

faction.<br />

Economic adviser to<br />

Kim Chong-il. Worked<br />

in the OGD and Three<br />

Revolution Teams.<br />

Worked with Kim<br />

Chong-il in<br />

establishing Kim Ilsung’s<br />

system of<br />

unitary leadership.<br />

13 The most insightful work being done on Kim Chong-il’s power building strategy is by Jei Guk Jeon, a freelance<br />

scholar in Seoul. Jei argues that Kim has employed a balancing act between political forces. This strategy, which<br />

is characterized by inclusive politics, honor-power sharing arrangements, and divide-and-rule tactics, has turned<br />

out to be an effective way of clearing away potential cleavages built into the ruling circle. See “The Politics of<br />

Mourning Ritual in <strong>North</strong> Korea (1994-1997),” World Affairs (Winter 2000); “<strong>North</strong> <strong>Korean</strong> Leadership: Kim<br />

Jong-il’s Intergenerational Balancing Act,” The Strategic Forum, No. 152 (December 1998).<br />

II-11

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