North Korean House of Cards

Name Position(s) Comments
Ju Kyuchang
(87)
• Alternate
Member of the
Politburo (since
2010) (?)
Because of its responsibility for day-to-day
oversight of the development of the regime’s
critical defense systems, the director of
the KWP MID is probably one of the
• Member of the
CMC (since
2010) (?)
few director-level officials who has regular
access to Kim Jong-un. Ju Kyu-chang was,
however, dropped from the NDC in 2014,
• Director of the
KWP Machine
Industry Department
(MID)
(since 2010)
which suggests that his influence may have
waned. His formal ranking within the
leadership plummeted from 29th on Kim
Kuk-tae’s Funeral Committee list to 85th
on Jon Pyong-ho’s Funeral Committee
list. Some have suggested that he has been
replaced as Director of the KWP MID by
Hong Yong-chil.
Tae Jong-su
(79)
• Alternate
Member of the
Politburo (since
2010) (?)
• KWP Secretary
for General
Affairs (since
2010) (?)
• South
Hamgyong
Provincial Party
Secretary (since
2012)
As Kim Jong-il was revitalizing the Party
apparatus, he placed Tae Jong-su in the
sensitive post as Director of the KWP
General Department, which is in charge
of the handling and transmission of Party
documents. From this post, Thae would
presumably have had direct access to Kim
Jong-un, who began receiving reports
from various parts of the regime, including
the Party. In 2012, Tae Jong-su was sent
back to the provinces to take up another
sensitive post as Party Secretary of South
Hamgyong Province, which is rumored to
be a potential source of factionalism within
the regime. While he remains within the
leadership, his position in the formal ranking
dropped from 25th on Kim Kuk-tae’s
Funeral Committee list to 73rd on Jon
Pyong-ho’s Funeral Committee list.
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
92