North Korean House of Cards

2. Military
• General O Kuk-ryol (85) has been an alternate member of the
Politburo since 2012 and Vice Chairman of the NDC since 2009. O’s
ties to the Kim family date back to the 1930s. He is the nephew of
North Korean hero O Jung-hup and son of O Jung-song, a partisan
supporter of Kim Il-sung. After the war, O was one of the war orphans
looked after by Kim Il-sung and his first wife (Kim Jong-il’s mother),
Kim Jong-suk. Ever since, the O family has been considered one of the
three major families of the North Korean elite and one that the Kim
family relies on to ensure that the high command remains loyal to the
concept of the “Leader” (Suryong) system. For this reason, it is not
surprising that O Kuk-ryol returned to prominence in the months after
Kim Jong-il’s stroke and throughout the succession process for Kim
Jong-un. He was featured in the funeral ceremonies for Kim Jong-il
and has continued to appear at major leadership events. A former Chief
of the GSD and Director of the KWP Operations Department, 689
O sits atop one of the most prominent patronage systems inside
the North Korean armed forces. He reportedly has responsibilities
within the NDC for intelligence operations abroad as well as for crisis
management. In periods of tension on the Korean peninsula, O’s
influence and access to Kim Jong-un and his advisors may increase. 690
He was ranked 14th on Jon Pyong-ho’s Funeral Committee list, which
remained unchanged from his ranking in 2013 on Kim Kuk-tae’s
Funeral Committee list.
• Vice Marshal Ri Yong-mu (90) has been a member of the Politburo
since 2010 and a Vice Chairman of the NDC since 1998. One of the
elderly elite, Ri is related to the Kim family through Kim Jong-il’s
great-grandmother, Ri Po-ik. 691 He is Kim Jong-un’s cousin. Like O
Kuk-ryol, Ri Yong-mu oversees one of the major patronage systems
inside the military. He fell out of favor with the Kim family in the late
689 Prior to 2009, the KWP Operations Department had responsibility for much of North
Korea’s Special Operations Forces. In 2009, this department was dissolved and merged into the newly
established RGB.
690 Author’s interviews in Seoul, 2012 and 2013.
691 Ri Yong-mu is also the husband of Kim Jong-sun, Kim Il-sung’s cousin.
Ken E. Gause
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