Kim Kwang-hyop ( ko, 김광협, 1915 – 1970) was a politician anti-Japanese activist and a military officer and politician of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (commonly, North Korea). He served as Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army.

Biography

He was born in

Hoeryong Hoeryŏng () is a city in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea. It is located opposite Jilin Province, China, with the Tumen River in between. Sanhe (三合鎮), in Longjing City, is the closest Chinese town across the river. Hoeryŏng is the b ...

, North Hamgyong Province, in 1915. In 1930, at the age of 16, he moved to China and graduated from

Huangpu 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' ...

, where he worked as an anti-Japanese partisan. In 1935 he joined the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

, and in 1940 he served as the second member of the

Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army was the main anti-Japanese guerrilla army in Northeast China (Manchuria) after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Its predecessors were various anti-Japanese volunteer armies organized by locals ...

's Second Army. After the fall of the Japanese Empire, he became the commander of the military district of the Northeast Democratic Army of the pro-Soviet

Provisional People's Committee of North Korea The Provisional People's Committee of North Korea was the provisional government of North Korea. The committee was established on 8 February 1946 in response for the need of the Soviet Civil Administration and the communists to have centralizatio ...

. At the onset of 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 ...

he was the commander of the Second Army of the Korean People's Army.North Korea: How Did It Prepare for the 1950 Attack? in Army History No. 49 (Spring 2000), pp. 1-15 After the armistice of the Korean War, he was promoted to the Chief of the General Staff of the

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 S ...

. He served as a delegate to the Supreme People's Assembly in following the

1957 North Korean parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 27 August 1957 to elect members of the 2nd Supreme People's Assembly . Voters were presented with a single list from the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, dominated by ...

and from September that year until October 1962 he was also Minister of People's Armed Forces. , - , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Kwang-hyop Members of the 2nd Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 3rd Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 4th Supreme People's Assembly Workers' Party of Korea politicians Korean communists Korean independence activists People from Hoeryong 1915 births 1970 deaths North Korean military personnel of the Korean War North Korean generals People of 88th Separate Rifle Brigade