Hero of the Republic () is a North Korean honorific title. It was created on 30 June 1950 as Hero of the Korean People's Republic (). It was the first title created in the country. Despite having been created just five days after the Korean War broke out, the connection seems incidental. 533 people were awarded Hero of the Republic during the war, and many more since then. Since there is no agreed upon order of precedence of North Korean titles, orders, and medals, it is not possible to definitively establish the rank of Hero of the Republic. According to Yonhap's ''

North Korea Handbook North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''no ...

'', Hero of the Republic ranks below the Order of Kim Il-sung but above the

Hero of Labor The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It rep ...

Martin Weiser Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aus ...

, however, ranks Hero of Labor the highest. The medal was designed by Jong Chon-pa, who also designed the

, Order of the National Flag and others, including 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 ...

Recipients

Since there are too many recipients, only those with Wikipedia articles are listed. * Kim Il-chol * Paek Hak-rim, awarded October 1988 *

Kim Chol-man Kim Chol-man (김철만; 2 November 1920 – 3 December 2018) was a North Korean politician and military official. He was a member of several important committees and organizations, including the 6th Central Military Commission, the 6th Politb ...

first awarded September 1968, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Korean People's Army; later key member of the Central Military Commission, the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

, and the National Defence Commission, double hero April 1992 * Choe Ryong-hae (1993), first secretary of the Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League and

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

member; later President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and First Vice Chairman of the State Affairs Commission * Army Marshal O Jin-u was made a Hero of the Republic in (February 1968) and Double Hero (February 1992). * Choe Hyon, commander of the North Korean II Corps and

Minister of People's Armed Forces 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, ...

* Kim Jong-suk (posthumous), wife of Kim Il-sung and Communist anti-Japanese guerrilla * Jong Song-ok, gold medalist in the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...

Women's Marathon in Seville, awarded 1999. *

Lee Kwon-mu Lee Kwon-mu ( ko, 리권무, Hanja: ), also known as Yi Kwon-mu or Ri Gwon-mu (1914–1986?), was a North Korean People's Army general officer during the Korean War. He commanded a division, and later a corps, on the front line of the confl ...

, Korean People's Army lieutenant general and commander of the North Korean 3rd Division during the Battle of Taejon * Kim Il-sung, 1st

Supreme Leader of North Korea The supreme leader () of North Korea is the ''de facto'' paramount leader of the Workers' Party of Korea, the state and the Korean People's Army. The title has not been written into the national constitution as a separate office, but it currentl ...

, (thrice: August 1953, April 1972, April 1982) *

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

, 2nd Supreme Leader of North Korea, (four times: 1975, 1982, 1992, and 2011) *

Peng Dehuai Peng Dehuai (; October 24, 1898November 29, 1974) was a prominent Chinese Communist military leader, who served as China's Defense Minister from 1954 to 1959. Peng was born into a poor peasant family, and received several years of primary edu ...

, ''Yuan Shuai'' of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

and commander of the

People's Volunteer Army The People's Volunteer Army (PVA) was the armed expeditionary forces deployed by the People's Republic of China during the Korean War. Although all units in the PVA were actually transferred from the People's Liberation Army under the order ...

during the Korean War * Mao Anying (posthumous) * Choe Kwang, first awarded February 1968, double hero April 1992. *

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

, Prime Minister and President of Yugoslavia (25 August 1977) *

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

, Prime Minister and President of Cuba, (March 1986) * Ziaur Rahman, President of Bangladesh * Choe Chun-sik * Ri Tu-ik, General of the Korean People's Army, first awarded June 1968, double hero February 1992. *

Kim Kwang-chol Kim Kwang-chol ( ko, 김광철) is a politician from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). He has served as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in the Cabinet of North Korea since 2015 and is a candidate for the Political ...

* Chon Mun-sop, first awarded November 1969, double hero April 1992. * Kang Kon, killed in Korean War, awarded September 1950. *

Cho Myong-son General Cho Myong-son (, 27 November 1923 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean official. He was a former guerilla fighter in the Korean independence movement. Career Prior to liberation from Japan, he was an anti-Japanese partisan and fought a ...

, buried in the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery, awarded 1992, also double recipient of Order of Kim Il-sung. *

Choe In-dok Choe In-dok ( ko, 최인덕/崔仁德; 1920 - August 31, 2003) was a North Korean politician, a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and an officer in the Korean People's Army. He held the rank of Vice Marshal. Biograp ...

, first awarded October 1970, double hero February 1992. * Kim Chaek, awarded 1968. * So Chol, awarded April 1992. * Kang Tong-yun, unknown when awarded. * Kim Yong-ju, unknown when awarded. *

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

, De facto leader of Libya, (1982)''Daily Report: Asia & Pacific, Issues 211-230''. The Service. 1982. p. D–2.

References

Works cited

* *

Recipients

See also

References

Works cited

Further reading