North Korean House of Cards

Under Kim Jong-il, the SOCC was led by a group of five permanent
members: a director and four vice directors. All five also served as vice directors
within the KWP OGD. This was because the SOCC was created during a period
when Kim Jong-il was the director of the KWP OGD and his Personal Secretariat
originally drew from its staff. In addition, the SOCC relied on the KWP OGD to
monitor the Supreme Leader’s orders and policies to ensure that they were carried
out in the manner in which he intended.
According to several sources, Kang Sang-chun has retained his position as
Director of the SOCC. 372 The last known head of the Main Office of Secretaries
was Kim Jung-il. This office oversees the activities of several secretarial offices,
which operate in a similar fashion to the Central Committee departments. They
are issue-specific, but instead of simply monitoring the operations of government
ministries and departments, as is the mandate of the Central Committee departments,
they are also responsible for the operations of the party bodies. More importantly,
they are responsible for receiving and classifying the briefing documents and reports
for the Supreme Leader across the policy spectrum. As Kim Jong-un assumes
the role of Control Tower, this apparatus will become more active and vital to his
day-to-day operations. The SOCC is made up of several offices:
• The Office of the Secretary for Policies is responsible for facilitating
documents to and from the other secretary offices. It ensures that the
documents are properly classified. It is also responsible for collating
the work from the other secretary offices to forward to the Supreme
Leader’s Personal Secretariat for his review. It works closely with the
KWP OGD to monitor whether policies are implemented.
• The Office of the Secretary for Government Organs is responsible for
monitoring the affairs of core state institutions, including the NDC,
Cabinet, and SPA. It works with the secretariats of each of these bodies
to generate meeting agendas and facilitate the transmission of decisions.
According to some sources, this office has been divided into several offices
to oversee the operations of each of these core institutions.
• The Office of the Secretary for Military Affairs is responsible for the
collation and processing of information on the armed forces. Reports
372 “N.K. Leader’s Sister Serving as Chief of Staff,” Yonhap News Agency, op. cit. In early 2014,
Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, was identified as Chief Secretary. Given her youth, it is highly unlikely
that she has assumed all, if any, responsibilities of running the SOCC. However, she is a liaison from
her brother’s Personal Secretariat to the SOCC. Later in 2014, she was identified as a vice director of a
Central Committee department, raising questions about her exact position within the regime.
Ken E. Gause
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