North Korean House of Cards

Name Position(s) Comments
Colonel
General So
• Member of the
CMC
So Hong-chan began accompanying Kim
Jong-un on guidance inspections in May
Hong-chan • First Vice
Minister of the
People’s Armed
Forces (since
2013)
2013. He is rumored to also be a member
of the CMC and head of the General
Logistics Department (GLD). In late 2015,
rumors surfaced that he may have replaced
Kim Chun-sam as Director of the GSD
• Director of
the General
Logistics Bureau
(since 2013)
Operations Bureau. 215 He was ranked 44th
on Jon Pyong-ho’s Funeral Committee list.
• Director of the
GSD Operations
Bureau
(2015)
Lieutenant
General Kim
Chun-sam
• First Vice Chief
of the GSD
(since 2015)
• Director of the
GSD Operations
Bureau
(since 2015)
As the Director of the GSD Operations Bureau,
Kim Chun-sam is responsible for the
daily operational management of the armed
forces and supervises the formulation and
implementation of the KPA’s training and
contingency planning. From this position,
he most likely has some routine contact
with Kim Jong-un, especially as part of the
latter’s guidance inspections. Whether he
has achieved unfettered access or must still
go through the chain of command (i.e. Ri
Yong-gil) is currently unclear.
215 “Kim Jong Un Says Recent High Level Inter Korean Meetings Could ‘Bear Rich Fruit’,”
Hankyoreh, August 29, 2015.
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
96