Kim Kwang-jin ( ko, 김광진/金光鎭; May 12, 1927 - February 27, 1997) was a North Korean general and politician. He held the rank of

Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

Biography

Born May 12, 1927 in Pyongyang. Before liberation, he was a worker. He served as an artillery commander during the Korean War, and participated in military education at Kim Il-Sung Military University from September 1954. He graduated the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School. 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 ...

, he built his major as an artillery commander, commanding the People's Army, entering Seoul and advancing to the Nakdong River. After being appointed as an artillery commander and corps commander in the position of lieutenant general in 1969, he was known as the number one in the artillery division for more than 10 years until he was appointed to the military vice of the General Staff Department in October 1980. Since he was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

as member of the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's unicameral parliament for the 5th Convocation in December 1972, he was re-elected to the

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

8th 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

and the 9th convocations. He was elected a candidate member of the 6th Central Committee at the

6th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea The 6th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) was held in the February 8 House of Culture in Pyongyang, North Korea, from 10 to 14 October 1980. The congress is the highest organ of the party, and is stipulated to be held every four ye ...

in October 1980 and a full member of the Central Committee of the Party in July 1984. In April 1984, he was appointed commander of the 5th Corps, and in December of the same year, he was appointed Vice Minister of the People's Armed Forces. He contributed greatly to the implementation of the

Juche ''Juche'' ( ; ), officially the ''Juche'' idea (), is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and f ...

suggested by Kim Jong-il. In September 1990, he participated as the North Korean representative eight times, from the first inter-Korean high-level talks to the eighth high-level talks, and visited the

Blue House Cheong Wa Dae ( ko, 청와대; Hanja: ; ), also known as the Blue House, is a public park that formerly served as the executive office and official residence of the president of South Korea from 1948 to 2022. It is located in the Jongno distr ...

. At the 7th inter-Korean high-level talks in May 1992, he was widely known in South Korea as an important figure on the North side of high-level talks, including taking the position of chairman of the Military Joint Commission. After being promoted to the Vice Marshal rank in April 1992, he was selected as a member of the

Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea The Central Military Commission of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (CMC) () is an organ of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) which is responsible for coordinating the Party organizations within the ...

in March 1995. In August 1995, the year of the death of the Minister of People's Armed Forces

O Jin-u O Jin-u (March 8, 1917 – February 25, 1995) was a North Korean general and politician. He served with Kim Il-sung's partisan unit and eventually rose through the ranks of the North Korean Army. He distinguished himself during the Korean War an ...

, ``The People's Army is Kim Jong-il's army, and in any case, let's protect him with loyalty'' in the WPK mouthpiece, urged the entire military to loyalty to Kim Jong-il. In October 1995, he was appointed as the first deputy head of the

Ministry 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, ...

, and at the same time he was awarded the Kim Il-sung Medal. He died on February 27, 1997. At the time of his death, he served as the first vice-minister of the Ministry of People's Armed Forces, a member of the

National Defense Commission The National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (NDC) () was the highest state institution for military and national defence leadership in North Korea, which also served as the highest governing institution of the cou ...

, and a military member of the Party's Central Military Commission. During his life he was decorated Kim Il-sung medals, the title of

Hero of the Republic 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 ...

, several

Order of the National Flag The Order of the National Flag () is the second highest order of North Korea, after the Order of Kim Il-sung and the Order of Kim Jong-il. It is the oldest order in the country, having been established in 1948, just six weeks after the North ...

first-class orders, and Free Independence Medal. Kim was given a state funeral. His funeral committee consisted of

Ri Ul-sol Ri Ul-sol (리을설; 14 September 19217 November 2015) was a North Korean politician and military official. He played an important role in the administrations of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, achieving the rank of Marshal of the Korean People's ...

Jo Myong-rok Jo Myong-lok (12 July 1928 – 6 November 2010) was a North Korean military officer who held the military rank Chasu (Vice Marshal). In 1998, he was appointed First Vice-Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, Director ...

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 Comm ...

, and others.

References

{{North Korean marshals 1927 births 1997 deaths Members of the Supreme People's Assembly Workers' Party of Korea politicians North Korean generals Korean independence activists People from Pyongyang People of 88th Separate Rifle Brigade