North Korean House of Cards

senior leadership are evident in his recent rise through the ranks. He
assumed the post of SPC Chairman in April 2009, shortly after Kim
Jong-un was handpicked as a successor. In November 2012, he was
appointed as the Vice Chairman of the State Physical Culture and
Sports Guidance Committee, a powerful “shadow leadership organization”
headed by Jang Song-taek. 730 Ro has made frequent appearances
at economy-related ceremonies. Along with Pak Pong-ju, he is one
of the “young” technocrats who is well versed in external economic
affairs. Like Pak, Ro built his knowledge of the economy through a
number of government jobs and by working in the production field. 731
His appointments to the SPC and the Politburo have been interpreted
by many Pyongyang-watchers as an effort by Kim Jong-un to increase
the level of pragmatism in leadership deliberations on economic
development. His line of communication to the senior leadership most
likely went through Pak Pong-ju and Jang Song-taek. Although he was
rumored to be close to Jang Song-taek, he was not part of the initial
purge as evidenced by his appearance as 23rd on Kim Kuk-tae’s Funeral
Committee list. His ranking rose to 21st on Jon Pyong-ho’s Funeral
Committee list.
• Jo Chun-ryong has been a member of the NDC and the presumed
Chairman of the Second Economic Committee (SEC) since 2014. His
first appearance in North Korean media was in March 2014, when
he was elected as a deputy to the first session of the 13th SPA. Jo’s
subsequent appointment to the NDC, presumably replacing Paek
Se-pong, caught the Pyongyang-watching community by surprise. His
direct ties to Kim Jong-un are opaque, but his position on the NDC
would suggest some regularized contact. He was ranked 84th on Jon
Pyong-ho’s Funeral Committee list.
• Kim Kye-gwan (72) has been the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
since 2010. He is the leading figure in international talks over the
country’s nuclear weapons program, including the Six-Party Talks
in Beijing. He played a major role in the shutdown of the nuclear
program in 2007, which followed extensive meetings with Christopher
Hill, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State. He also met former U.S.
730 “Report on Enlarged Meeting of Political Bureau of WPK Central Committee,” KCNA, November
4, 2012.
731 No Jae-Hyeon, “The Group of Four Who Spearheaded the North’s Economic Reform Are
Making a ‘Comeback’ Under the Kim Jong Un Regime,” Yonhap News Agency, August 20, 2012.
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
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