Kim Kuk-thae ( ko, 김국태; 27 August 1924 – 13 December 2013) was an elder apparatchik of the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...

, the

ruling party The ruling party or governing party in a democratic parliamentary or presidential system is the political party or coalition holding a majority of elected positions in a parliament, in the case of parliamentary systems, or holding the executive ...

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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. Kim was born in North Hamgyong Province as the eldest son of

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

's trusted general

Kim Chaek Kim Chaek (, 14 August 1903 – 31 January 1951) was a North Korean revolutionary, military general, and politician. His real name was Kim Hong-gye (). Life Kim Chaek was born in Sŏngjin, North Hamgyong, Korea, in 1903. He and his family ...

. He attended North Korea's most prestigious schools for cadres, including Mangyongdae Revolutionary School and

Kim Il-sung University Kim Il-sung University, founded on 1 October 1946, is the first university built in North Korea. It is located on a campus in Pyongyang, the nation's capital. Along with the main academic buildings, the campus contains 10 separate offices, 50 l ...

, and started working in the

from the late 1940s. In 1963, he was appointed general to serve as deputy director of the

General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army The General Political Bureau (GPB) is the internal politburo of the Korean People's Army (KPA), used by the leadership of the North Korean government to exert political control over the military. The GPB is subordinate to the Ministry of Defence (N ...

to 1968, where he worked to consolidate Kim Il-sung's political control over the army. In 1968 he was made an alternate member of the WPK Central Committee (promoted to full member at the 5th Party Congress in 1970) and director of the

Propaganda and Agitation Department The Propaganda and Agitation Department (PAD, ), officially translated as the Publicity and Information Department, is a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) tasked with coordinating the creation and dissemina ...

, where he worked closely with Kim Jong-il. As the propaganda department fell under the future leader's control, Kim was transferred to director of the Culture Department in 1971 and president of the Kim Il-sung Higher Party School in 1976, but then he apparently fell out of favor and was exiled as ambassador to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. Kim Kuk-thae was called back to North Korea in 1980 to arrange preparations of the 6th Party Congress. He even received the

Order of Kim Il-sung The Order of Kim Il-sung () is the highest order of North Korea, along with the Order of Kim Jong-il, and only second to one honorary title, the Hero of Labour. The order, named after the country's first leader Kim Il-sung, was instituted in 1 ...

in 1982. He was promoted again to a number of leading positions, including director of the Propaganda Department (1983–1984), director of the Education Department (1984–1985), director of the Cadres Department (1985–1990), president of the Higher Party School (1990–1992). In 1993 Kim was made secretary for party cadre affairs and director of the Cadres Department, with overall responsibility over personnel appointment and management, and was considered to be a close aide of Kim Jong-il. He also served as chairman of the Deputies' Credential Screening Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly for two terms (1998–2003, and 2009–2013), himself being a deputy since 1967. In 2010 he was transferred to chairman of the WPK Central Control Commission and promoted to the top decision-making Politburo. Although he was ranked number 7 in the committee that organized the funeral of Kim Jong-il in December 2011, he kept a low profile under Kim Jong-un, mainly disappearing from public after summer 2012.

Death

He died on 13 December 2013 from heart failure after a five-decade career, and was laid in state in the Central Workers' Hall (home of the

General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea The General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea (GFTUK; ) is the sole legal trade union federation in North Korea. GFTUK was formed on November 30, 1945 as the General Federation of Trade Unions of North Korea. In January 1951, it was reorganized ...

) in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

before being buried in the

Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery The Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery is a national cemetery in North Korea located in Sinmi-ri, Hyongjesan-guyok, Pyongyang. Founded on September 17, 1986, it is officially reserved for people who contributed to the "liberation of the country" and "s ...

. On his funeral committee were: #

Kim Yong-nam Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese ...

Pak Pong-ju Pak Pong-ju (; born 10 April 1939) is a North Korean politician who served as the Premier of North Korea from 2003 to 2007 and again from 2013 to 2019. He was elected a member of the Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 2016. Earl ...

Choe Ryong-hae Choe Ryong-hae (born 15 January 1950) is a North Korean politician and military officer who currently serves as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and First Vice President of the State Affairs Commission, holding ...

Ri Yong-gil Ri Yong-gil (, born 1955) is a North Korean military officer and the current Minister of Social Security. He is believed to have been in his 60s when appointed to his position as a general in 2013. Ri was made a Lieutenant General in April 200 ...

# Jang Jong-nam # Kim Kyong-hui # Kim Ki-nam # Choe Thae-bok # Pak To-chun #

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 ...

Yang Hyong-sop Yang Hyong-sop (1 October 1925 – 13 May 2022) was a North Korean politician who served as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly from 1983 to 1998 (from 1994 it was form ...

Kang Sok-ju Kang Sok-ju ( ko, 강석주; ; August 29, 1939 – May 20, 2016
on

Ri Yong-mu Ri Yong-mu (25 January 1925 – 27 January 2022) was a North Korean senior official who was a member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea, vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea and vice-marshal of the Korean ...

O Kuk-ryol O Kuk-ryol (, born 7 January 1930) is a North Korean military general who served as Vice Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, as head of the Operations Department from April 2009 to June 2016. The son of O Jung-song and n ...

Kim Won-hong Kim Won-hong (; born 17 July 1945) is a North Korean politician and military general. Early life and education Kim was born in what is now North Korea's North Hwanghae Province. He graduated from the Workers' Party of Korea's Kim Il-sung Higher ...

# Kim Yang-gon #

Kim Yong-il Kim Yong-il (; born 2 May 1944) is a North Korean politician who served as the Premier of North Korea from April 2007 to 7 June 2010. He was elected as Premier by the 5th session of the 11th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) in April 2007, replac ...

Kim Phyong-hae Kim Phyong-hae (, born 8 October 1941) is a North Korean politician. He was a Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the director of the Cadres' Affairs Department of the WPK. He is a full member of the 7th Central Committee o ...

# Kwak Pom-gi # Mun Kyong-dok #

Choe Pu-il General Choe Pu-il (; born 6 March 1944) is a North Korean politician who served as head of North Korea's Ministry of People's Security. Biography In April 1992, he was promoted to Major General and to General in October 1995. After serving as ...

# Kim Chang-sop #

Ro Tu-chol Ro Tu-chol (, born 2 October 1950) is a Vice Premier of North Korea's cabinet and the Chairman of the State Planning Commission. During Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev's three-day visit to Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the c ...

Jo Yon-jun Jo Yon-jun (born September 28, 1937) is a North Korean politician. Jo is a candidate member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and former first deputy in the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD) of the Central Committe ...

Thae Jong-su Thae Jong-su (, born 20 March 1936) is a North Korean politician. He was a Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the director of the Munitions Industry Department of the WPK. He is a full member of the 7th Central Committee of ...

Choe Yong-rim Choe Yong-rim (, born 20 November 1930) is a North Korean politician who served as the Premier of North Korea from June 2010 to April 2013 and was a member of the 6th Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Hyon Chol-hae Hyon Chol-hae ( ko, 현철해/玄哲海;August 13, 1934 – May 19, 2022) was a North Korean military officer. He was born in Country Yanji,Province Jilin,Manchukuo. During the Korean War, Hyon served as Kim Il-sung's bodyguard, a role which ...

# Ri Pyong-sam #

Ju Kyu-chang Ju Kyu-chang (25 November 1928 – 3 September 2018) was a North Korean politician, who served as the director of the Workers' Party of Korea's (WPK) Machine-Building Industry Department. Ju was reportedly the head of North Korea's nuclear progr ...

# Ri Yong-su # Paek Kye-ryong #

Han Kwang-bok Han Kwang-bok (Korean language, Korean: 한광복) is a North Korean politician who served as Vice Premier. She was born in the 1940s in the North Hamgyong Province, North Korea. She also served as the Minister for the Electronics Industry until ...

# O Il-jong # Kim Jong-im # Kim Chung-hyop # Han Kwang-sang #

Kim Kyong-ok Kim Kyong-ok ( ko, 김경옥) is a North Korean politician and four-star army general in the Korean People's Army. He is member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), first deputy director of the Organization and Guidance ...

# Ri Chae-il # Choe Hwi #

Kim Man-song Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese fo ...

Chon Il-chun CHON is a mnemonic acronym for the four most common elements in living organisms: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. The acronym CHNOPS, which stands for ''c''arbon, ''h''ydrogen, ''n''itrogen, ''o''xygen, ''p''hosphorus, ''s''ulfur, r ...

Jong Myong-hak Jong may refer to: Surname *Chung (Korean surname), spelled Jong in North Korea *Zhong (surname), spelled Jong in the Gwoyeu Romatzyh system *Common Dutch surname "de Jong"; see ** De Jong ** De Jonge ** De Jongh *Erica Jong (born 1942), Americ ...

# Kim Hi-thak #

Paek Ryong-chon Baek (), also often spelled Paek, Baik, Paik is a Korean family name. In the year 2000, there were 351,275 people with this surname in South Korea. The word means the color white. Baek (白) "白" has a Cantonese origin from the Yuan dynasty an ...

Hong In-bom Hong In-bom ( ko, 홍인범) is a North Korean politician. He is a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and Chairman of the Control Commission of the Party Central Committee. Biography Hong in Bŏm began his profession ...

# Ri Man-gon # O Su-yong # Pak Yong-ho # Pak Thae-dok # Kim Chun-sop # Pak Chong-nam # Ri Sang-won #

Kang Yang-mo Kang may refer to: Places * Kang Kalan, Punjab * Kang District, Afghanistan * Kang, Botswana, a village * Kang County, Gansu, China * Kang, Isfahan, Iran, a village * Kang, Kerman, Iran, a village * Kang, Razavi Khorasan, Iran, a village * Kham ...

# Rim Kyong-man

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Kuk-thae 1924 births 2013 deaths Members of the Supreme People's Assembly Recipients of the Order of Kim Il-sung Members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea