North Korean House of Cards

Table 2: Second Echelon of Power
Name Position(s) Comments
Party
Kim Ki-nam
(86)
Choe Taebok
(85)
• Member of the
Politburo (since
2010)
• KWP Secretary
for Propaganda
(since the 1990s)
• Director of the
KWP PAD
• Rumored to be
retired in place
• Member of the
Politburo (since
2010)
• KWP Secretary
• Chairman of
the SPA (since
1998)
A close associate of the Kim family, Kim
Ki-nam is credited for creating the
cult of personality around Kim Jong-il
and praising Kim Il-sung’s historic role
as the founder of the regime. He 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. He was ranked seventh
on Jon Pyong-ho’s Funeral Committee list.
According to defector reports, his day-today
role in the PAD may have been taken
over by Kim Yo-jong.
Along with Kim Jong-un and Kim Ki-nam,
Choe Tae-bok 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.
He was ranked eighth on Jon Pyong-ho’s
Funeral Committee list.
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
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