Kim Yong-chol (; born 1946) is a North Korean general and politician. From February 2009 to January 2016 he was the director of the

Reconnaissance General Bureau The Reconnaissance General Bureau ( ko, 정찰총국; RGB, Reconnaissance Bureau of the General Staff Department) is a North Korean intelligence agency that manages the state's clandestine operations. Most of their operations have a specific foc ...

, the country's primary intelligence service. From 2016 to 2019, and again from 2021 to 2022, he served as the head of the United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea. He also served as the

vice chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trai ...

for South Korean affairs from 2016 to 2021.

Early life

Kim Yong-chol was born in 1946 in Ryanggang Province.

Career

In 1962 he served in the 15th Division, a civil police company guarding the Korean Demilitarized Zone. In 1968 he was appointed a liaison officer to the United Nations Command, Military Armistice Commission, Korea. In 1976, he was made a division commander of the

Supreme Guard Command Supreme Guard Command () (also known as Unit 963, the Escort Bureau, Guard Command, Guard Bureau and the General Guard Bureau) is the personal bodyguard force tasked with the protection of North Korea's ruling Kim family. The current Supreme Gua ...

. In 1990 he was promoted to major general and became deputy director of the Ministry of People's Armed Forces and director of the MPAF Reconnaissance Bureau. In 1998 he was elected as a deputy to the 10th

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the unicameral legislature of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of the DPRK's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year ...

and again in 2003 to the 11th. In 2009, he was appointed director of the

and Vice-Chief of the General Staff Department of the Korean People's Army. He was also elected as a deputy to the 12th

. In 2010, he was promoted to Colonel-General and elected to the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. He was a member of the funeral committee of Jo Myong-rok. In 2011, he was a member of the funeral committee of

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 ...

A letter from North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un

In 2012 he was promoted to general. In 2014, he was elected as a deputy to the 13th

and served on the funeral committee of Jon Pyong-ho. In May 2016, he was elected to the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. He was elected as a member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea, the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and as Vice-Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea. He was appointed director of the

United Front Department The United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea (UFD, ) is a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) tasked with relations with South Korea. It conducts propaganda operations and espionage and manage ...

and served on the funeral committees of Kang Sok-ju and

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 ...

, and he was elected to the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly. Kim was sent as part of North Korea's Olympic delegation to the closing ceremony of the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

held on 24 February 2018. His presence was controversial, mostly due to allegations that Kim was responsible for orchestrating an attack on a South Korean naval ship in 2010 that killed 46 sailors. An article in the ''Hangook Ilbo'' warned that Kim's attendance could send "raging waves" throughout the Korean Peninsula, but the games closed without incident. On 30 May 2018, Kim flew to New York City via

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

for talks with United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regarding the

2018 North Korea–United States summit Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short s ...

. He was hosted at a residential facility of the US delegation to the United Nations for highly "private" conversations with US counterparts. He then visited the White House for talks with the US President, Donald Trump on 1 June. During this meeting, he delivered a letter to Trump from

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

. Because he is subject to US sanctions, the visit required a travel waiver. On 24 April 2019, Yonhap News Agency reported that North Korea has removed Kim Yong-chol from the head of the United Front Department. In July 2020, it was reported that Kim Yong-chol was mentioned in a

Rodong Sinmun ''Rodong Sinmun'' (; ) is a North Korean newspaper that serves as the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on November 1, 1945, as ''Chŏngro'' (), serving as a communication channel ...

article in relation to North-South communications working with Kim Yo-jong. Also prior to the article on 24 June 2020, Kim Yong-chol condemned remarks by the South Korean defence minister when he called for "mutual efforts" to reduce tensions between the two Koreas. In June 2023, he was appointed an adviser of the United Front Department.

Awards and honours

A picture of Kim shows him wearing the ribbons to all decorations awarded to him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Yong-chol North Korean generals Living people 21st-century North Korean people People from Ryanggang Province 1946 births Date of birth missing (living people) Members of the Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 8th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Vice Chairmen of the Workers' Party of Korea and its predecessors