North Korean House of Cards

approval or authorship of essays, slogans, and other media in support
of the hereditary succession. Kim Ki-nam was given a role in ensuring
Kim Jong-un’s succession and appointed to the Politburo in September
2010. He was one of only three civilian officials who accompanied Kim
Jong-il’s coffin during his funeral in December 2011. Since Jang Songtaek’s
purge, Kim Ki-nam has continued to be active in Party affairs,
including speaking at major Party events. He was ranked seventh on
Jon Pyong-ho’s Funeral Committee list.
• Choe Tae-bok (85) has been a member of the Politburo since 2010
and the Chairman of the SPA since 1998. He is also a KWP Secretary.
As one of the first graduates of Mangyongdae Revolutionary Academy,
he most likely had ties with Kim Jong-il from an early age. He later
became one of Kim’s closest aides and advisors on international issues.
Along with Kim Jong-un and Kim Ki-nam, he was the only other
civilian to accompany Kim Jong-il’s hearse. Choe is a reported protégé
of Yang Hyong-sop, the Vice President of the SPA Presidium and is tied
to Kim Kyong-hui’s patronage system. 682 He was ranked eighth on Jon
Pyong-ho’s Funeral Committee list.
• Pak To-chun (71) is a full member of the Politburo (since 2010),
KWP Secretary for Defense Industry (until 2015), and a member of
the NDC (from 2011 to 2015). His career began to rise when he took
over the sensitive post of Party Secretary of Jagang Province, which
is home to many parts of the defense-industrial complex. In terms of
leadership politics, Pak is tied more closely to Kim Jong-un than he
was to Kim Jong-il. He was promoted to a four-star general in 2012
and was part of the so-called “National Security Committee” that met
at the end of January 2013. In the photograph of this meeting that
appeared in North Korean media, Pak was seated to Kim Jong-un’s
immediate right. Given the role that testing of critical defense systems,
such as the nuclear and missile programs, has played in the early
part of Kim Jong-un’s reign, it is highly likely that Pak To-chun has
regular access to Kim. 683 He was ranked tenth on Jon Pyong-ho’s Funeral
682 Michael Madden, “Choe Thae Bok Biography,” North Korea Leadership Watch, March 30, 2011.
683 Lee, Sang-Yong, “SPA Session Offers No Substantial Policies,” Daily NK, April 13, 2015.
According to some Pyongyang-watchers, Pak To-chun has been moved into the background, possibly
becoming an adviser on defense industrial issues in Kim Jong-un’s personal secretariat. This seems to be
a possible career progression for leaders with critical knowledge who are generationally linked to the Kim
Jong-il, not Kim Jong-un, era.
Ken E. Gause
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