General Staff Department Of The Korean People's Army
The General Staff Department (GSD) of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is the senior military leadership of the armed forces of North Korea responsible for its administrative, operational and logistical needs. The current Chief of the General Staff is Army General Ri Thae-sop. Duties The GSD is the principal administrative body of the KPA besides the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces, which gives it the authority to do the following: * Plan the national defense policy for the KPA * Assess threats to the sovereignty and security of the state * Regulate the training, education, and organization of the KPA Chiefs of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army See also *Ministry of Defence (North Korea) The Ministry of Defence (, formerly 인민무력성/人民武力省 or Ministry of the People's Armed Forces) is the government agency tasked with general administrative and logistical coordination of the Korean People's Army (KPA). Prior to 1992, ... ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Korean People's Army
The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Secretary Kim Jong-un serves as Supreme Commander and the chairman of the WPK Central Military Commission. The KPA consists of five branches: the Ground Force, the Naval Force, the Air and Anti-Air Force, the Strategic Rocket Forces, and the Special Operation Force. The KPA considers its primary adversaries to be the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and United States Forces Korea, across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, as it has since the Armistice Agreement of July 1953. it is the second largest military organisation in the world, with of the North Korean population actively serving, in reserve or in a paramilitary capacity. History Korean People's Revolutionary Army 1932–1948 Kim Il-sung's anti-Japanese guerrilla army, the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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O Kuk-ryol
O Kuk-ryol (, born 7 January 1930) is a North Korean military general who served as Vice Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, as head of the Operations Department from April 2009 to June 2016. The son of O Jung-song and nephew of O Jung-hup, who allegedly fought the Japanese with Kim Il-sung, O Kuk-ryol was among war orphans under the care of Kim Il-sung's wife Kim Jong-suk and was a close personal friend of Kim Jong-il from childhood. He has been called the second most powerful man in North Korea. In June 2009, O was identified by international authorities and the United States government as a key figure in North Korea's currency counterfeiting activities, specifically with United States one hundred-dollar bills, known as Superdollars. He was reported to have also involved members of his family, including his son O Se-won, in the counterfeiting business, which reportedly took place at the Pyongsong Trademark Printing Factory, a factory under the control o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ri Thae-sop
Ri Thae-sop ( ko, 리태섭) is a North Korean politician and general. He served as Minister of Social Security and is serving since June 2022 as Chief of the General Staff. He is also a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea. He served as Commander of the 5th Corps and Commander of the 7th Corps. Biography Ri's birthplace and date of birth are unknown. In April 2004, he was promoted to Major General of the Korean People's Army, and in September 2010, he was elected as a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea at the 3rd party conference. Following the death of Kim Jong-il on December 17, 2011, was included as a member of the funeral commission. He was re-elected as a representative to the 13th convocation of the Supreme People's Assembly held on March 9, 2014, and was appointed as the commander of the 7th Corps as a Lieutenant General of the Korean People's Army, although the date of his appointme ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rim Kwang-il
Rim Kwang-il ( ko, 림광일; born 1965) is a North Korean general and politician who served as Chief of the General Staff Department of the Korean People's Army. Biography In January 2016, he was appointed as the 1st Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army and the Director-General of Operations Department, succeeding Kim Chun-sam. He was promoted to First Deputy Director-General of the General Staff Reconnaissance General Bureau in 2017 and was promoted to Colonel general Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ... in April of the same year. At the 5th Plenary Session of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea held in December 2019, he was elected as a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and appointed as Di ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pak Jong-chon
Pak Jong-chon () is a North Korean Marshal and a member of the Presidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea. Biography In 2014, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the General Staff and Chief of Fire Command at the General Staff. However, he was demoted to Major General in 2015 and the Deputy Chief of Staff was fired. In 2016 he was promoted to Lieutenant General and was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and Director General of the General Staff Department. He was promoted to Colonel General in 2017. He was promoted to General of the Army on April 14, 2019, and was appointed Chief of Staff of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, having replaced Ri Yong-gil. The appointment is attributed to the successful launch of the new short-range ballistic missile as Artillery Director. Pak also accompanied Kim Jong-un to the ceremony to the upgrading of the status of Samjiyon from a county (kun) status to a city which was de ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ri Myong-su
Ri Myong-su ( ko, 리명수; born on 20 February 1934 in Myongchon, North Hamgyong) is the former chief of General Staff of the Korean People's Army from 2016 to 2018. Ri was a confidant and military aide of the former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. He was appointed the head of the Ministry of People's Security by Kim Jong-il in April 2011 and served in that role until removed from power by Kim Jong-un in February 2013. He was replaced by Choe Pu-il. He was made chief of General Staff of the Korean People's Army in February 2016 and promoted to vice marshal rank in April that year. In June 2018, it was announced that he had been sacked about a week before the summit between North Korea and the United States, and was replaced in the position by his deputy Ri Yong-gil. See also *Rimyongsu Sports Club Rimyŏngsu Sports Club () is a North Korean football club, based in Sariwŏn. Despite never winning the DPR Korea League, Rimyŏngsu supplied four players to the 2005 FIFA ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ri Yong-gil
Ri Yong-gil (, born 1955) is a North Korean military officer and the current Minister of Social Security. He is believed to have been in his 60s when appointed to his position as a general in 2013. Ri was made a Lieutenant General in April 2002 and given command of the forward-deployed 3rd Army Corps from 2002 to 2007, and later the 5th Army Corps from 2007 to 2012. He was promoted to Colonel General (Sangjang) and elected an alternate member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in 2010. He was promoted to chief of the General Staff Operations Bureau in late 2012, in charge of coordinating KPA corps commanders and reporting to the chief of General Staff and the Supreme Command. Ri was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army in August 2013 as well as promoted to general around the same time. In early February 2016, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that Ri had recently been executed on charges of corruption and forming a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hyon Yong-chol
Hyon Yong-chol (; January 11, 1949 – rumored April 30, 2015) was a North Korean general and Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) politician. He served as Minister of Defence from 2014 to 2015. In 2015, he was reportedly removed from his post. Personal life and career North Korean media have stated that Hyon was born in January 1949 and joined the military in 1966. Having served as a battalion commander, he was elected a delegate to the Supreme People's Assembly in 2009. Hyon was promoted to the rank of four-star general () alongside Kim Jong-un, Kim Kyong-hui, Kim Kyong-ok, Choe Ryong-hae, and Choe Pu-il in September 2010. He was on the national funeral committee in the wake of Kim Jong-il's death in December 2011. Hyon was named as a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea at the third party conference. In February 2012, Hyon received the Order of Kim Jong-il. Hyon was promoted to the rank of Vice Marshal () of the KPA in July 2012, two days after Chief of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ri Yong-ho (general)
Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho (; 5 October 1942 – ) was a North Korean military officer who was Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army from 2009 to 2012, as well as a member of the Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea from September 2010 to July 2012. Early life and education Born in Tongchon County, Kangwon Province on 5 October 1942, Ri Yong-ho joined the Korean People's Army in August 1959. He graduated from the Kim Il-sung Military University. Career After graduation, Ri Yong-ho worked as chief of staff of a division, director of the operations department of an army corps, head of a training center, vice-director of the operations department of the general staff, its deputy chief and head of a training center of the KPA. He was promoted to lieutenant general in 2002, and served as commander of the Pyongyang Defense Command from 2003-09. He became a rising star in 2003 as a result of his appointment as the head of the military unit guarding the capital city an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kim Kyok-sik
General Kim Kyok-sik (; 5 October 1938 – 10 May 2015) was a defence minister of North Korea. Biography Kim Kyok-sik was born in 1938. He studied at Kim Il-sung Military Academy before being moved to Syria as North Korea's military attaché in the 1970s, possibly managing support activities for the Eritrean Liberation Front and the Turkish Workers' Party. He was called back to North Korea by the 1980s, serving as an official of the Korean People's Army; he was elected deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly in 1990, appointed member of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in 1991, and promoted to colonel-general in 1992. He was given a low-level position in the Kim Il-sung funeral committee in 1994. Kim was promoted to general in 1997. He received command of the 2nd Army Corps in October 1994 and held it until April 2007, when he was appointed Chief of the General Staff replacing Kim Yong-chun, who had been appointed defence minister. He was succeeded b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kim Yong-chun
Kim Yong-chun (4 March 1936 – 16 August 2018) was a North Korean soldier and politician. He was a leader of the North Korean military. He held the North Korean military rank Chasu (Vice Marshal), was Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, and was Minister of People's Armed Forces (roughly corresponds to Minister of Defence in other countries). He held a minor post within the Workers Party. Early life Born in 1936 in Yanggang Province, he attended the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School and the Kim Il-sung Military University before starting his career in the party apparatus and the Korean People's Army. Career He served as secretary of the South Pyongyang Provincial Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in the 1960s and was elected alternate member of the WPK Central Committee in 1980 at the 6th Party Congress. In 1986 he was elevated to Central Committee full member, director of the KPA General Staff Operations Bureau and deputy to the Supreme Pe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chasu
''Ch'asu'' () is a superior military rank of North Korea, often translated as Vice Marshal. The rank is senior to that of ''Daejang'' (General) and junior to that of ''Wonsu'' (Marshal). The rank is seldom bestowed upon the professional military, and appears to be rather a combined political-military position. The insignia for a ''chasu'' is superimposing a North Korean national crest upon a marshal's insignia star in the shoulder epaulette. Formerly, insignia for such rank holders was the emblem of North Korea The emblem of North Korea is a national symbol adopted in 1993 by the state. Its design is modified from the former version in use from the founding of North Korea in 1948. Prominent features on the emblem are a red star, a hydroelectric plan ... until the present insignia was released in 1985. The rank is often transliterated as ''ch'asu'', showing the difference with the Korean word for embroidery, usually transliterated as ''chasu'' ( :wikt:자수).Korea newsre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |