Choe Deok-sin (September 17, 1914 – November 14, 1989) was a South Korean

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

who later

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

with his wife,

Ryu Mi-yong Ryu Mi-yong (14 February 1921 – 23 November 2016) was the chairwoman of the North Korean Chondoist Chongu Party. She was a standing committee member of the 10th Supreme People's Assembly. She was known as a South Korean defectors, defector fro ...

, to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. Choe was born in

Uiju County Ŭiju County is a kun, or county, in North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The county has an area of 420 km², and a population of 110,018 (2008 data). Name Ŭiju appears as Uiju in South Korea's Revised Romanization and as Yizhou in Chinese ...

North Pyongan Province North Pyongan Province (Phyŏnganbukto; , also spelled North P'yŏngan), is a western province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former P'yŏng'an Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, th ...

. In 1936, he graduated from the

Republic of China Military Academy The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China's ...

, and served as a

Republic of China Army The Republic of China Army (ROCA), previously known as the Chinese Nationalist Army or Nationalist Revolutionary Army and unofficially as the Taiwanese Army, is the largest branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces. An estimated 80% of the ...

officer. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

ended, Choe was promoted to colonel. After the war Choe returned to South Korea and entered the national army academy as a second lieutenant. In 1949, Choe entered the United States Military Academy. On July 14, 1950, Choe returned to South Korea. Choe served as a commanding general of the South Korean 11th Division under the United States IX Corps during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. His division carried out the Sancheong-Hamyang and

Geochang Geochang County (''Geochang-gun,'' ) is a county in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The Geochang International Festival of Theater, which was started in 1989, is renowned as the best play festival in Korea. The District Office is l ...

massacres. After the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

, from 1961 to 1963, Choe served as a

and

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

TradeAgreement Malaysia-SthKorea 1962-11-05

In 1986, Choe relocated with his wife

from their exile in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where they had been known for their opposition to the policies of the South Korean military government. Choe served as a chief of the central committee of the

Chondogyo Cheondoism (spelled Chondoism in North Korean sources; ) is a 20th-century Korean pantheistic religion, based on the 19th-century Donghak religious movement founded by Ch'oe Che-u and codified under Son Pyŏng-Hi. Cheondoism has its origins i ...

religious movement and vice-chairman of the

Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) is a North Korean state agency aimed at promoting Korean reunification. Overview The CPRK was not a governmental body per se but rather an offshoot of the Korean Workers' Party's Unit ...

. Choe's son, Choe In-guk, reportedly defected to North Korea in July 2019.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choe, Deok-sin 1914 births 1989 deaths People from Uiju County Chondoist Chongu Party politicians Foreign ministers of South Korea Government ministers of South Korea Ambassadors of South Korea to West Germany South Korean diplomats South Korean generals Military personnel of the Republic of China in the Second Sino-Japanese War South Korean military personnel of the Korean War Republic of China Military Academy alumni South Korean defectors South Korean emigrants to North Korea

Bibliography

See also

References