Kim Yong-chun
{{short description|North Korean soldier and politician}}
{{family name hatnote|Kim||lang=Korean}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Kim Yong-chun
| native_name = {{nobold|김영춘}}
| honorific_prefix = Marshal
| module = {{Infobox Korean name
|context = north
|hangul = 김영춘
|hanja = {{linktext|金|永|春|}},{{linktext|金|英|春|}}[https://www.donga.com/news/Politics/article/all/20051108/8245415/1 북한軍 실세는 혁명 2세대 70代]
|rr = Gim Yeong-chun
|mr = Kim Yŏngch'un
| child = yes}}
| image = Kim Yong-chun.jpg
| office = Minister of People's Armed Forces
| termend = April 2012
| termstart = February 2009
| term_end1 = 13 April 2014
| term_start1 = 9 April 2009
| office1 = Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea
| birth_date = {{birth date|1936|3|4|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Pochon County, Kankyōnan-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan
(now in Ryanggang Province, North Korea)
| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|8|16|1936|3|4|df=yes}}
| death_place = Pyongyang, North Korea
| party = Workers' Party of Korea
| serviceyears = 1986–2018
| alma_mater = Kim Il Sung Military University
Frunze Military Academy
| branch = {{nobr|{{Armed forces|North Korea}}}}
| allegiance = {{flagicon|North Korea}} North Korea
}}
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 Commission of North Korea, and was Minister of People's Armed Forces (roughly corresponds to Minister of Defence in other countries).[http://www.tongilnews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=72191 <추가>북, 총리에 김영일, 국방위 부위원장에 김영춘 선임] (in Korean) Tongil News{{cite web|title=Top 4 N. Korean Military Officials Fall Victim to Shakeup|url=http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/11/30/2012113001209.html|publisher=The Chosun Ilbo|access-date=1 December 2012|date=Nov 30, 2012 }} He held a minor post within the Workers Party.
Early life
Kim was born in 1936 in Pochon County, Kankyōnan-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan (now in Ryanggang Province, North Korea). He attended the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School and the Kim Il Sung Military University before starting his career in the party apparatus and the Korean People's Army.
Career
He served as secretary of the South Pyongyang Provincial Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in the 1960s and was elected alternate member of the WPK Central Committee in 1980 at the 6th Party Congress. In 1986 he was elevated to Central Committee full member, director of the KPA General Staff Operations Bureau and deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly. He was abruptly purged in 1988 along with Chief of General Staff O Kuk-ryol for disputes with O Jin-u.[http://nkleadershipwatch.wordpress.com/leadership-biographies/vmar-kim-yong-chun/ VMAR Kim Yong Chun], North Korea Leadership Watch. Accessdate: 2018-08-21
Kim Yong-chun reappeared in the 1990s as he was promoted to general and director of the General Munitions Mobilization Bureau. He also oversaw the disbandment of the North Hamgyong Province's Sixth Army Corps, accused of corruption. In 1995, after O Jin-u's death, he was promoted to Vice Marshal and Chief of the KPA General Staff, a post he held until 2007, when he was appointed a vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission.
Kim Yong-chun was reputedly close to Kim Jong Il and a member of his court of aides. He received new promotions in 2009 as Minister of People's Armed Forces and in 2010 as member of the Politburo and the Central Military Commission.
In December 2011, after the leader's death, he was ranked 5th among members of the Kim Jong Il funeral committee, immediately after Kim Jong Un and the Politburo Presidium members (Kim Yong-nam, Choe Yong-rim and Ri Yong-ho), signalling his powerful position in the new leadership.[http://ajw.asahi.com/article/asia/korean_peninsula/AJ201112270036 All eyes set on Kim Jong Il's funeral committee list] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234008/http://ajw.asahi.com/article/asia/korean_peninsula/AJ201112270036 |date=2016-03-03 }}, Asahi Shimbun, December 27, 2011.
He was replaced as Minister by Kim Jong-gak and appointed director of the WPK Civil Defense Department in April 2012. Although displaced from all significant leading posts, he was awarded the largely honorary rank of Marshal of the Korean People's Army in April 2016.{{cite news | title=Kim Jong Un promotes senior military officials | url=https://www.nknews.org/2016/04/kim-jong-un-promotes-senior-military-officials/ | author=Ha-young Choi | work=NK News | date=15 April 2016}}
Death
Kim Yong-chun died on 16 August 2018 from myocardial infarction, aged 82. Many notable figures were involved on his funeral committee, including Kim Jong-un and Kim Yong-nam.{{Cite web |title=MAR Kim Yong Chun (1936-2018) |work=North Korea Leadership Watch |date=20 August 2018 |access-date=17 October 2018 |url= http://www.nkleadershipwatch.org/2018/08/20/mar-kim-yong-chun-1936-2018/ }}
Awards and honors
A frame with Kim's awards and honors was displayed during his funeral, showing all the decorations he had received.{{Citation |title=Full State Funeral of the Korean Hero Marshal Kim Yong Chun [2018] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xYvlLx_8E0 |language=en |access-date=2023-01-09}}
80px Order of Kim Il Sung, twice
80px Order of the National Flag First Class, eight times
80px Order of Korean Labour, twice
80px Commemorative Order "Anniversary of the Foundation of the People's Army", twice
80px Commemorative Order "20th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea", twice
80px Commemorative Order "Foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea", twice
80px Order of the National Flag Second Class, twice
80px Order of Freedom and Independence Second Class
80px Commemorative Order "50th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea", twice
80px Order of the Red Banner of Three Great Revolutions
80px Commemorative Order "40th Anniversary of Fatherland Liberation War Victory"
80px Order of the National Flag Third Class, three times
80px Medal For Military Merit, twice
80px Commemorative Medal "Fatherland Liberation"
80px Commemorative Medal "The Foundation of the People's Republic of Korea", twice
He also received multiple watches signed with Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il's signature.
References
{{Portal|North Korea|Biography|Politics}}
{{reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=Kim Il-chol}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minister of People's Armed Forces|years=2009–2012}}
{{s-aft|after=Kim Jong-gak}}
|-
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=Choe Kwang}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army|years=1995–2007}}
{{s-aft|after=Kim Kyok-sik}}
{{s-end}}
{{Commanders of the Korean People's Army}}
{{North Korean marshals}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Yong-Chun}}
Category:North Korean generals
Category:Defence ministers of North Korea
Category:People from Ryanggang Province
Category:Members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea
Category:Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea