North Korean House of Cards

posting, Ri had been the Fifth Corps Commander from 2007 to 2012. 48 He was
cast in the limelight when he spoke at the Military Loyalty Pledge for Kim Jong-un,
held on the one-year anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s death. His name also appeared
alongside Choe’s in the Kim Jong-il Funeral Committee list. 49
At the end of the March/April crisis, three additional changes occurred in
the high command. First, Colonel General Pyon In-son, the Commander of the
Fourth Corps, was replaced by Ri Song-guk. Pyon had steadily climbed up the
military ranks for two decades, becoming a Vice Minister of the People’s Armed
Forces in 2010. He took command of the Fourth Corps at the end of 2011. He
also became a member of the KWP Central Committee in 2010 and his name
appeared on both the Jo Myong-rok and the Kim Jong-il Funeral Committee lists.
This suggested that his ties to the regime were established in the period during the
emergence of Kim Jong-un as the successor. 50 He also had a high profile during the
March/April crisis, accompanying Kim Jong-un on a visit to the two islets in the
West Sea, something that could have contributed to his removal. 51 On July 25, 2013,
North Korean media, in a report of wreath-laying for fallen Chinese fighters, noted
that Pyon had returned to his post of Vice Minister of the People’s Armed Forces. 52
In August 2013, he was identified as the Director of the GSD Operations Bureau. 53
Not much was known about Ri Song-guk when he replaced Pyon. His
only previous appearance in North Korean media was when he accompanied Kim
48 In the Kim Jong-un era, the Fifth Corps seems to be a way station for military leaders coming
from and returning to the senior leadership. In addition to Ri, Hyon Yong-chol was demoted from
Chief of the General Staff to commander of the Fifth Corps before returning to the senior leadership
as Minister of the People’s Armed Forces in 2014. Jang Jong-nam, when he was replaced by Hyon, was
demoted to commander of the Fifth Corps.
49 KCNA, December 19 2011. Colonel General Ri Yong-gil was also a member of the Jo Myongrok
Funeral Committee.
50 However, Pyon In-son fell outside of the generational cohort that Kim Jong-un appeared
to be trying to bring into the high command. He became a Lieutenant General in 1997 and a Colonel
General in 2003, when he took command of the Seventh Corps. He was also a delegate to the 11th
and 12th SPAs, which suggests that his ties to Pyongyang were developed before Kim Jong-un became
heir apparent.
51 Initial analysis showed that the regime appeared to be reshuffling commanders tied to the
more strident actions that the regime took in the recent past. The fact that Pyon In-son and Kim Kyoksik
were replaced within days of the end of the March/April crisis suggested that the regime wanted to
move in other policy directions—diplomatic and economic—without being weighed down by recent
events. Kim Kyok-sik’s appointment as Chief of the GSD called this analysis into question.
52 “Wreaths Laid Before Cemetery of Fallen Fighters of CPV,” KCNA, July 26, 2013.
53 This timeline is based on Ri Yong-gil’s appointment as Chief of the GSD, leaving the
Operations Bureau post vacant. In addition, film footage of the military parade and demonstration on
the 65th anniversary of the country’s founding on September 9, 2013 shows a KPA officer who resembles
Colonel General Pyon briefing Kim Jong-un during the Worker-Peasant Red Guards’ parade, a position
normally reserved for the Director of the Operations Bureau.
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
34