Where did KJI Pass Away in a “State of Agitation”? (revised)

Kim Jong Il (front) at his last reported public appearance at the Kwangbok Market in December 2011. This was the last image of the late leader when he was alive telecasted in DPRK state media before he died on 17 December 2011 (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

Chosun Ilbo, citing an anonymous source, reported in January that Kim Jong Il’s death on 17 December 2011 was precipitated by his anger after major leaks were discovered in a dam at the Hu’ich’o'n Power Station’s construction.  According to the unnamed source, “It wasn’t just a crack. The safety of the entire dam was in question.”  The leaks in the dam may have been due to rushed construction work, to complete the power station by April 2012, in time for celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late DPRK President and founder, Kim Il Sung (KJI’s father).  DPRK state media editorials and essays published in 2010 and 2011 termed “Hu’ich’o'n Speed” the new “Ch’o'llima Speed” and one piece described the power station as the “forefront of the drive for building a thriving nation.”  The power station was completed and opened during a ceremony held on 5 April 2012 and, as of October 2012, was supplying electricity to Pyongyang.

The railway route Kim Jong Il would have utilized if, as Chosun Ilbo claims, he traveled from Pyongyang to the Hu’ich’o'n Power Station, then died en route (Photo: Google image; route drawn by M. Madden)

A view of the railway stations from which KJI would traveled from Pyongyang to the Hu’ich’o'n Power Station in December 2011, showing his main railway station in Ryongsong District, near the residential compound there, or the Pyongyang Central Railway Station VIP area which he also utilized (Photo: Google image; route drawn by M. Madden)

According to Chosun Ilbo‘s unnamed source, “After being briefed about the leak, Kim Jong-il lambasted officials and ordered them to repair it.  He rushed to make an on-site inspection of the facility unable to contain his anger and died suddenly.”  The South Korean (ROK) daily also reported that “Stress about the trouble at Huichon was apparently the last straw after Kim learned that steel and textile manufacturing plants, also touted as key projects, had serious defects as well.”  Kim Jong Il’s last reported public appearance was his visit to the Kwangbok Department Store.  At the time of KJI’s demise, the DPRK was also conducting two major interactions with the US in Beijing, one with US Ambassador Glyn Davies and one with US Special Representative Robert King.  Also, in Beijing on an official visit at the time, was DPRK Minister of Electronic Industry Han Kwang Bok, who was later removed from office.  It is possible that reports to KJI about these interactions, in addition to problems with the Hu’ich’o'n Power Station, sent KJI’s delicate cardiovascular condition over the edge.  Alastair Gale wrote a fascinating essay about this report for Korea Realtime.  The policy and political circumstances under which Kim Jong Il passed away may have affected a number of personnel and political decisions and activities that Pyongyang watchers beheld during 2012.

Chosun Ilbo undercut its own story, writing that “Kim Jong-il was famous for his nocturnal lifestyle and normally got up around noon.”  This information is a bit dated.  For many years, KJI was a night owl.  In the early years of his succession drive he stayed up awaiting ‘phone calls from his father (who also worked in the wee hours).  Later on, as he assumed more operational power and policy control, Kim Jong Il would start completing his office work late at night.  If he was hosting a close aide party or “secret” banquet he’d slip away early and head for his office where he’d read reports, documents and policy proposals until the early hours of morning.  He would retire to his quarters for a few hours’ rest and then appear back at whatever office out of which he was operating during the late morning or early afternoon.  KJI’s kept this nocturnal schedule until around 2007.  In 2007 he began to experience headaches and trouble with his eyesight while working.  This foreshadowed the subsequent health problems that culminated in a transient ischemic attack [TIA] followed by a major stroke during July and August 2008.

Even before his strokes in 2008, KJI had curtailed his late night office work.  At dinner party in the PRC Embassy in Pyongyang in January 2008, KJI smiled and said, “I am physically so much weaker than when I was younger.  Lately, I’ve been feeling even weaker.  In my office I sometimes feel dizzy and I get light-headed.  I can’t drink and I am on a diet.  What is even worse is that I can’t stay up late any more.  I am terribly bored every day.”  Between rumors about KJI’s problems in 2007-2008, and his own admissions to family members and foreign visitors, Chinese officials became somewhat concerned and began to compile observations and information about the late leader’s health.  The Chinese got a better view on KJI’s health on 18 June 2008 when Kim Jong Il met with Xi Jinping for over an hour.  Although Chinese observers said KJI kept his eyes closed and nodded as the Chinese spoke, he was “quick to respond” and “logical and coherent.”  While the KJI-Xi meeting provided the PRC a first-hand assessment of KJI’s physical and mental faculties, Xi’s visit to Pyongyang was the first stop on a five-nation tour of Chinese allies and Xi’s first foreign excursion after his appointment as China’s Vice President in March 2008.

View of KJI’s main base of operations showing his headquarters (the KWP CC #1 Office), his personal clinic and two of the residences where he alternated staying when he was in the city centre of Pyongyang. KJI’s residential compounds in Ryongsong District and Kangdong County, and those lcoated in the provinces, also had clinic facilities and on-call medical personnel (Photo: Google image)

In any event, after 2007, Kim Jong Il ceased working in his office at night.  From 2008 to 2011, according to several sources and accounts, Kim Jong Il generally woke up early in the morning.  When not staying in his suite at Ponghwa Clinic, he received a daily medical check up either at his personal clinic in the central party complex or from medical personnel (working under the Guard Command and Personal Secretariat) at whatever residence at which he was staying.  When not conducting guidance tours of economic sites, public facilities or military field inspections, KJI was usually in his office by 9 AM.  In the last months of his life, Kim Jong Il kept a very busy public schedule.  Stewing over a misleading report about infrastructure work one frigid Saturday morning, it is entirely likely KJI decided to board his private train and see for himself what was happening at Hu’ich’o'n Power Station.

The Sojong VIP area in Pot’onggang District in central Pyongyang where KJI’s official wife Kim Yong Suk and other DPRK elites (including Cabinet members reside). His daughter, Kim So’l-song has been said to have a home in this complex (Photo: Google image)

View of the Sojong VIP neighborhood and its proximity to Ponghwa Clinic (hospital) where KJI stayed or received medical treatment during 2008-2011 (Photo: Google image)

And yet, perhaps Kim Jong Il did not expire on the mystery train.  On 27 December 2012,

Japan’s Shukan Bushun obtained documents from a country with close ties to the DPRK leadership which claimed that Kim Jong Il died on 16 December 2011 (Friday) after taking a nap in the home of his beloved daughter and close aide Kim So’l-song (Kim Sul-song).  Some details from Shukan‘s documents were churning through the Pyongyang rumor mill in December 2011 and January 2012, after KJI’s demise.  A person who had some knowledge about KJI’s activities and the Kim family’s interactions told me that prior to his death KJI had worked in his office on 16 December 2011, and at that time there was tension between himself and his hereditary successor Kim Jong Un.  A Korean Workers’ Party senior official who was a member of KJI’s entourage said that

Just after 7:00 a.m. on 15 December, Kim Jong Il secretly visited the Pyongyang University of Music and Dance and then the Hana Music Information Center. Around 9:00 a.m., he then went to give on-site guidance at a large department store (in the heart of the commercial area in the Kwangbok District) jointly financed by North Korea and China.  Kim Jong Il walked all around the three-story department store, inspecting it. However, during his inspection, he would walk a little ways, a pained expression would cross his face, and he would stop; then he would walk a bit more and stop again. He repeated that numerous times. Also during the inspection, he pointed out the false facts given in the reports by the senior officials in charge. At those times he got fairly worked up.

After his three hour visit to the department store, KJI returned to his office in the central party complex where he attended to some office work.  According to a media report from December 2011, citing an unnamed source, KJI had been in his office reviewing and signing documents during 15 to 16 December 2011.  On 16 December, according Shukan‘s documents and the foreign officials it interviewed, KJI canceled a guidance tour and remained at one of the two residences in central Pyongyang which he was using at the time.  On the afternoon of 16 December KJI, accompanied by a retinue of bodyguards, a personal assistant and a physician, visited the residence of his daughter Kim So’l-song.  Kim So’l-song is the daughter of KJI’s official wife, Kim Yong Suk, and was a close aide to her father managing some of his itineraries and security arrangements.  So’l-song is a Lt. Colonel in the KPA and was tied directly to the Guard Command.

The last known places where Kim Jong Il was present during 15-16 December 2011 (Photo: Google image)

KJI’s visit to So’l-song’s house was not unusual.  According both to Shukan Bushun and other sources, when he did not have official dinner engagements, KJI was a regular visitor to his daughter’s house, spending time with his grandchildren, So’l-song’s husband, his sister Kim Kyong Hui and his fifth wife (or consort) Kim Ok.  On 16 December KJI had dinner with So’l-song, her husband and children.  During the meal KJI consumed an unusually large amount of alcohol and neglected to take the medication mitigating the liquor’s effects on his kidneys.  After dinner, Kim Jong Il said that he would return to his own residence, after taking an hour’s rest at So’l-so’ng’s house.  An hour after KJI retired to nap, his personal aide heard the chiming of a medical alert device which KJI wore on his wrist.  According to a DPRK official ”When So’l-song and her son, who had been talking in the living room, and an aide to Kim Jong Il went to the bedroom, they found that Kim Jong Il had fainted, with foam around his mouth. Later, Kim Jong Il’s main physician confirmed his death.”  After KJI passed away the central party initiated an enquiry into the circumstances of KJI’s demise–the results of this enquiry may explain why some of KJI’s personal aides fell by the wayside during the funeral events in late December 2011 (one day they were attending to Kim Jong Un and other core elites, and the next day they were no where to be seen).

The intelligence report, the DPRK and foreign officials interviewed by Shukan Bushun claimed that during the last year and a half Kim Jong Il’s mental and physical health declined.  A In June 2011 in a conversation with someone who knows members of the family, my friend said that “the father was not doing well. . . mentally” and said that KJI had become depressed (which would explain why he spent a lot of his public schedule watching concerts and other performances).  This same source and friend also said that he did not expect KJI to live much longer.  Shukan Bushun reported that KJI spent his free time watching television and surfing the Internet.  According to Shukan ”But he whiled away his free time with television or the Internet, he hardly did any exercise. He set aside 40 minutes for walking, but he would spend more time sitting on the benches along his walking course than actually walking.”

Shukan Bushun reports that the main source of KJI’s melancholy was feuding with his son and hereditary successor, Kim Jong Un, particularly over personnel appointments.  According to Shukan Kim Jong Un was eager for a “generational change” in the 1st and 2nd tier central leadership of the party, army and government to which Kim Jong Il angrily remonstrated, “Despite the fact that after I am gone, it will still not be too late to use your people, why are you in such a rush to try to handle things your way?”

Despite the circumstances around KJI’s death, Kim So’l-song has become a close aide to Jong Un.  She was promoted into the KWP Organization Guidance Department and her husband is believed to be a close advisor to KJU.

n.b. Materials in this positing derive from my short book The Last Days of the Ryo’ngdoja (currently undergoing its 2nd edit) and a feature in Japanese press from 2009

The Ghosts of Cadres Past

(Photos: KCNA)

Since the beginning of December, DPRK state media has gradually released a series of news items and photo essays in commemoration of the one year anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s demise.  On 17 December 2011 Kim Jong Il passed away, according to the official chronicles, of a heart attack on a railway carriage during his field guidance and inspection tours.  A series of images published by Rodong Sinmun show several officials who were publicly retired or died under questionable circumstances during the transition from Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un.

Typically, the DPRK’s image makers hit the “crop” function to delete the politically departed, the unpersons, from the official photographs (or otherwise pixellate their faces from the official documentary films).  There are a number of senior officials who were dismissed or disappeared who have not appeared in the ongoing RS series–including Pak Nam Gi (only shown in profile) and VMar Ri Yong Ho (Ri Yong Who?).  However, four officials believed to have been bounced by the Center appear in some of the photos .  This suggests that some officials may have been shuffled out simply due to old age or that their perceived political sins have been absolved.

Jon Pyong Ho Jon was the Korean Workers’ Party’s  [KWP] chieftain of all military, arms and munitions production.  Jon was the institutional godfather of the DPRK’s strategic weapons programs and managed the 2006 and 2009 experimental nuclear detonations and several missile and rocket tests in the 1990s and 2000s.  Prior to the 3rd Party Conference on 28 September 2010 Jon migrated his executive role in the DPRK’s arms industry to serving as the DPRK Cabinet’s chief political manager.  After the 3rd Party Conference he retained his membership on the KWP Political Bureau, but was replaced as the party’s secretary for military industry.  In April 2011 he was publicly retired as a member of the DPRK National Defense Commission.  In December 2011 Jon was listed as #6 on the national funeral committee for Kim Jong Il and prominently attended several funeral-related events.  One of his last reported public appearances was at a mourning ceremony for KJI in March 2012.  At the 4th Party Conference Jon was removed from the KWP Political Bureau.  Some Pyongyang watchers have interpreted Jon’s removal from office as an active purge by Kim Jong Un.  However, his prominence in this image from a 2005 visit to the Rakwo’n Machine Complex in Sinu’iju implies that Jon’s role remains honored by the new leadership.

Jon Pyong Ho attends KJI’s tour of the Rakwo’n Machine Complex in January 2005 (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

VMar Kim Il Chol From 1997 to 2007 VMar Kim was the Minister of the People’s Armed Forces, a figurehead of the Korean People’s Army.  A longtime commander of the KPA Navy Command, Kim played a key operational role in the 1968 capture of the USS Pueblo. In May 2010, in a rare communique, the National Defense Commission publicly retired him  of “his posts” “due to advanced age.”  At the time of his dismissal the NDC had two other members–Jon Pyong Ho and VMar Ri Yong Mu–who were several years older than Kim.  According to a recent (and likely erroneous) report in South Korean media, he was executed last year.  VMar Kim appears in several of the KJI memorial images, including this image from a KJI visit with disabled veterans in April 2003.  While VMar Kim may have been a misfit toy, the current leadership is not ignoring his many years of service.

VMar Kim Il Chol (annotated) attends a KJI meeting with veterans in April 2003 (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

Ri Tae Nam Ri was from a rare genus of DPRK elites, being both a technocrat and experienced political manager.  In 2010 he was appointed a DPRK Cabinet Vice Premier at the 3rd session (plenum) of the 12th Supreme People’s Assembly [SPA] and during the 3rd Party Conference he was elected an alternate (candidate member) of the KWP Political Bureau.  In April 2011 Ri was removed as Vice Premier, at the 4th session of the 12th SPA “for his health reason,”  Ri also lost his alternate status on the Political Bureau.  However he was listed at #28 on Kim Jong Il’s funeral committee, after all other Political Bureau members and alternates.  Ri appears in some of the KJI memorial images from the early 2000s when Ri was the party’s chief secretary in South Hamgyo’ng Province.

Ri Tae Nam attends KJI’s inspection of the Kumjin River Power station in November 2000 (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

Ri Tae Nam takes notes during KJI’s visit to a goat farm in Hamhu’ng, South Hamgyo’ng Province in May 2001 (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

Ri Je Gang Ri was one of Kim Jong Il’s closest aides.  He was a key administrative gatekeeper responsible for channeling documents, policies, faxes to and from KJI.  He also hired the technical and clerical staff who worked directly for KJI and signed off on a number of personnel appointments from internal security managers to the young women who sang, danced and conversed with KJI and other core elites at social occaisions.  A lot of reporting and analysis has focused on Ri’s close ties to Ko Yong Hui which was the apotheosis of Kim Jong Un’s hereditary succession, but he was also close to KJI’s eldest son Kim Jong Nam.  In June 2010 DPRK state media reported that Ri Je Gang was killed in a car accident.  Despite the fact that his funeral was quick and private, and the central party garage neither took posession of the damaged car nor receivied a formal accident report, Ri was buried with the stars commensurate to a key official.  Ri’s death has been linked to an alleged rivalry with Jang Song Taek (a rivalry which was never conclusively established).  Considering Ri Je Gang’s prominence in two images released to memorialize KJI, Ri’s death may been tied to a political fight with DPRK elites other than Mr. Jang.

Ri Je Gang attends Kim Jong Il’s visit to the Taedonggang Foodstuff Factory in September 2009 (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

Ri Je Gang attends KJI’s visit to the indoor swimming pool at Kim Il Sung University in September 2009 (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

The website NK News has swapped the European royal court playing card decks (dating back several centuries) for members of the DPRK leadership.  That next canasta cruise on the Taedong or your quiet cribbage game at the Hyangsan Hotel won’t be complete without dealing Kim Ki Nam or Choe Yong Rim from the bottom of the deck.  The DPRK leadership playing cards can be obtained from NK News.

Kim Jong Un and DPRK Leadership Ride Horses During Inspection of KPA Equestrian Training Ground (updated)

Kim Jong Un rides at the equestrian company of KPA Unit #534, which he later named the Mirim Equestrian Club. Riding alongside him are Gen. Hyon Yong Chol (L), VMar Choe Ryong Hae (background) and Jang Song Taek (R) (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

DPRK state media reported on 19 November (Monday) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) inspected the equestrian company of Korean People’s Army [KPA] Unit #534.  KJU’s last reported public appearance was his attendance at a commemorative photograph session with participants in the 4th National Meeting of Mothers.  At the beginning of his inspection Kim Jong Un saw “training facilities and horses which lined for training, he watched service personnel’s training of horse riding.”

Kim Jong Un shakes hands with a a KPA commander who appears to be Gen. Kim Kyok Sik. Also seen in attendance is VMar Choe Ryong Hae (background, C) (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un (front row, R) dons a pair of customized Ray Ban sunglasses favored by his father, Kim Jong Il (1941-2011), and mother, Ko Yong Hui (1953-2004), during an inspection of the equestrian company of KPA Unit #534. Also seen in attendance is Jang Song Taek (L). Also seen in attendance in this image behind KJU and JST are: Kim Pyong Hae (L), Pak Pong Ju (back to camera, 2nd L), Kim Kyong Ok (3rd L), Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (3rd R) and VMar Choe Ryong Hae (2nd R) (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un salutes members of the equestrian company of KPA Unit #534 (Photo: KCNA)

Officers and service members of the equestrian company of KPA Unit #534 (Photo: KCNA)

Jang Song Taek (L) and Kim Jong Un (R) (Photo: KCNA)

At his inspection of this company of KPA Unit #534 KJU was accompanied by his sister Kim Yo Jong (Kim Yo’-cho’ng),  VMar Choe Ryong Hae (Director of the KPA General Political Department [bureau]), Kim Kyong Hui (KWP Secretary and KJU’s aunt), Jang Song Taek (National Defense Commission Vice Chairman and KJU’s uncle), Gen. Hyon Yong Chol (Chief of the KPA General Staff), Kim Ki Nam (KWP Secretary and Director of the Propaganda and Agitation [publicity and information] Department), Gen. Kim Kyok Sik (Vice Chief of the KPA General Staff), Kim Yang Gon (KWP Secretary and Director of the United Front Department), Kim Pyong Hae (KWP Secretary and Director of Cadres’ Affairs), Mun Kyong Dok (Chief Secretary of the Pyongyang Cuty [municipal] KWP Committee), Pak Pong Ju (Director of the KWP Light Industry Department), Han Kwang San (Deputy [vice] Director of the KWP Finance and Accounting Department), Kim Kyong Ok (Senior Deputy [1st Vice] Director of the KWP Organization Guidance Department), Ri Ryong Ha (Senior Deputy [1st Vice] Director of the KWP Organization Guidance Department),  Hwang Pyo’ng-so (Deputy [vice] Director of the KWP Organization Guidance Department), Kim Pyong Ho (Deputy [vice] Director of the KWP Propaganda and Agitation Department), Gen. Choe Pu Il (Vice Chief of the KPA General Staff and Commanding Officer of the KPA Northeast Military District), Col. Gen. Son Chol Ju (KPA Supreme Command), Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (Deputy [Vice] Director of the KPA General Political Department), Lt. Gen. Pak Jong Chon (KPA Supreme Command), Gen. Kim Yong Chol (Director of the NDC Reconnaissance Bureau) and Col. Gen. Jon Chang Bok (Deputy [vice] Director of the KPA General Logistics Department).

Members of the equestrian company of KPA Unit #534 participate in a racing exercise (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un talks with members of the DPRK leadership about the premises of the equestrian company of KPA Unit #534, which were renamed the Mirim Horse Riding Club. Also seen in attendance is Kim Kyong Ok (L) (Photo: KCNA)

Senior Deputy (1st Vice) Director of the KWP Organization Guidance Department and Member of the KWP Central Military Commission Kim Kyong Ok (L) talks to Kim Jong Un (Photo: KCNA)

According to KCNA “watching their brave training, he was satisfied with the fact that commanding officers and men are possessed of the admirable horsemanship” and KJU “recollected with deep emotion the feats performed by leader Kim Jong Il in guiding the work at this training ground, saying that President Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il were very good at riding horses.”  KJU and members of the DPRK leadership in attendance then rode horses around the premises.  KJU remarked that the equestrian grounds were “fairly good for riding.”  According to KCNA Kim Jong Un said, “If this training ground which was visited by Kim Jong Il several times is rebuilt into a modern ground for horse riding, this will mean better preservation and consolidation of the precious legacy left by him.”  One of these inspections to the equestrian grounds by Kim Jong Il was made in early November 2008, and was one of his first reported public appearances after recuperating from a series of strokes in July and August 2008.

Kim Jong Un on a horse during an inspection of the equestrian company of KPA Unit #534. A member of the Guard Command can be seen in the bacgkround. (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un rides during a visit to the equestrian company of KPA Unit #534 (Photo: KCNA)

(Photo: KCNA)

KWP Secretary and Political Bureau Member Kim Kyong Hui rides during her nephew’s inspection of the equestrian company of KPA Unit #534 (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Yo Jong, KJU’s younger sister and the niece of Kim Kyong Hui and Jang Song Taek, rides during her brother’s tour of the equestrian grounds. (Photo: KCTV/KCNA screengrab)

NDC Vice Chairman and KWP Administration Department Director, Jang Song Taek, rides during his nephew’s inspection of the equestrian company of KPA Unit #534 (Photo: KCNA)

KJU then named the equestrian ground of KPA Unit #534 the “Mirim Horse Riding Club” and he “called for renovating horse-riding club at an early date and presenting it to the people.”  According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un said:

Horse-riding is a very good exercise helpful for nurturing bravery.  It will help strengthen healthy spirit and physical body conducive to labor and defense.  Regular horse-riding exercises from early years based on education will develop muscles and prevent back ache even after becoming adults.  Horse-riding has caught worldwide interest.  Koreans have been fond of riding horses from the olden times and frequently held competitions on horseback, thus training their body and mind.  When renovated, the horse-riding club will attract lots of working people, youth and students.  The horse-riding will help them train their body and mind and give them pride and joy.  Roller skating wind is raging after the creation of skate parks in different parts of Pyongyang.  The same thing will happen after the creation of horse-riding club.  To promote horse-riding, it is necessary to provide necessary conditions.  It is necessary to arrange horse-riding club and, at the same time, create horse-riding school and teach not only horse-riding but horse breeding and taming.  Breeding healthy horses is important for the well operation of horse-riding club.

KCNA reported that KJU instructed “solving in time problems arising in breeding horses including the provision of fodder,” ”called for timely producing horse-riding gears including riding suit” and that he “stressed the need to successfully renovate the club as required by the era of military-first (So’ngun) and provide the Koreans who are the best in the world with the highly civilized living conditions and environment.”

(Photo: KCNA)

VMar Choe Ryong Hae, Director of the KPA General Political Department (bureau), Member of the KWP Political Bureau Presidium and Vice Chairman of the KWP Central Military Commission rides a horse during KJU’s inspection (Photo: KCNA)

Chief of the KPA General Staff, Gen. Hyon Yong Chol, rides a horse during KJU’s inspection of the equestrian grounds (Photo: KCNA)

Chief Secretary of the Pyongyang City (municipal) KWP Committee and KWP Political Bureau Alternate (candidate member) Mun Kyong Dok rides (Photo: KCNA)

KWP Secretary and Director of the United Front Department and KWP Political Bureau Alternate (candidate member) Kim Yang Gon rides (Photo: KCNA)

Director of the KWP Light Industry Department and former DPRK Cabinet Premier Pak Pong Ju rides (Photo: KCNA)

KJU’s inspection may have occurred here in the Mirim area of east Pyongyang (Photo: Google image)

Kim Jong Un Attends Photo Session with 4th National Meeting of Mothers Partcipants

Kim Jong Un talks to a participant of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers during a commemorative photo session (Photo: KCNA)

DPRK state media reported on 18 November (Sunday) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) attended a commemorative photo session with participants of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers.  KJU’s last reported public appearance was his attendance at a shooting competition and a women’s volleyball match.  At the photo-op Kim Jong Un “sent warm congratulations to the delegates who fully demonstrated the revolutionary traits of Korean women in the meeting.” According to KCNA, KJU said, “4th National Meeting of Mothers marked a significant occasion in glorifying the proud history and tradition created by Korean mothers and opening up brighter and rosier future of the country and nation together with the mothers.”

Kim Jong Un greets participants of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers during a commemorative photo session. (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un greets participants of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers during a commemorative photo session. Also in attendance are: 1. Kim Kyong Hui 2. Kim Ki Nam 3. Jang Song Taek (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un (seated, 4th L) poses for a commemorative photograph with participants of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers. Also seen in attendance are Kim Ki Nam (seated, L), Kim Kyong Hui (seated, 2nd L), Ro Song Sil (seated, 3rd L) Ri Yong Su (seated, 5th L), Jang Song Taek (seated, 6th L) and Pak To Chun (seated, 7th L) (Photo: KCNA)

Attending the commemorative photo session with Kim Jong Un were Kim Kyong Hui (Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] Secretary and KJU’s aunt), Jang Song Taek (National Defense Commission Vice Chairman, KWP Administration Department Director and KJU’s uncle), Kim Ki Nam (KWP Secretary and Director of the Propaganda and Agitation [publicity and information] Department), Pak To Chun (KWP Secretary of Machine-Building and Military Industries), Kim Yang Gon (KWP Secretary and Director of the United Front Department), Kim Yong Il (KWP Secretary and Director of the International Affairs Department), Kim P’yo’ng Hae (KWP Secretary and Director of Cadres’ Affairs), Kwak Pom Gi (KWP Secretary and Director of Finance and Planning), Mun Kyong Dok (Chief Secretary of the Pyongyang City [municipal] KWP Committee), Ro Tu Chol (DPRK Cabinet Vice Premier and Chairman of the State Planning Commission), Jo Yon Jun (Senior Deputy [1st Vice] Director of the KWP Organization Guidance Department), Ri Yong Su (KWP Workers’ Organizations Department Director) and Ro Song Sil (Chairwoman of the Democratic Women’s Union of Korea [Korean Democratic Women's Union]).  Also in attendance were Jong Hui Ja (leading a delegation of the Korean Democratic Women’s Union in Japan), Chon Jae Ryon (leading a delegation of Korean women residing in China) and Jong Il Sim (leading a delegation of Korean women residing in Russia).

Participants of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers attending a commemorative photo session greet Kim Jong Un and other members of the DPRK’s core political leadership (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un greets a participant of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers during a commemorative photo session. Also seen in attendance is Ri Yong Su (R) Director of the KWP Workers’ Organizations Department (Photo: KCNA)

Commemorative photograph of Kim Jong Un and participants of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un embraces a participant at the 4th National Meeting of Mothers during a commemorative photo session. Also seen in attendance is Ro Song Sil (R), Chairwoman of the Democratic Women’s Union of Korea (Photo: KCNA)

During the photo session, according to KCNA, Kim Jong Un said that “It is the greatest pride of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Korean people that they have fine mothers discharging their mission before the times, country and nation with lofty loyalty and ardent patriotism, adding they registered the most valuable life in every annals of the revolution under the care of Generalissimos Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il” and he “expressed expectation and belief that all the mothers and women in the DPRK would display their honor as women revolutionaries and flowers of the era in the advance of a new century of Juche as they did in the past.”

Participants of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers applaud Kim Jong Un during a commemorative photo session (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un embraces a participant of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers during a commemorative photo session. Also in attendance is Ro Song Sil (R), Chairwoman of the Democratic Women’s Union of Korea (Photo: KCNA)

Mothers’ Meeting Held

Ro Song Sil (L), Chair of the Korean Democratic Women’s Union of Korea, addresses the 4th National Meeting of Mothers in Pyongyang on 15 November 2012 (Photo: KCNA)

DPRK state media reported on 15 November (Thursday) that the Fourth National Meeting of Mothers was held at 25 April House of Culture in Pyongyang.  Attending the meeting were Supreme People’s Assembly [SPA] Presidium President Kim Yong Nam, Director of the Korean People’s Army [KPA] General Political Department [bureau] VMar Choe Ryong Hae, Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] Secretary and SPA Chairman Choe Tae Bok, KWP Secretary and Director of the Propaganda and Agitation [publicity and information] Department Kim Ki Nam, DPRK Cabinet Vice Premier and State Planning Commission Chairman Ro Tu Chol, DPRK Cabinet Vice Premier Kim Yong Jin, Director of the KWP Workers’ Organizations Department Ri Yong Su, Chair of the Korean Democratic Women’s Union [Democratic Women's Union of Korea]  Ro Song Sil, Jong Hui Ja of the Korean Democratic Women’s Union of Japan.  Also in attendance were Chon Jae Ryong, leading a delegation of Korean women residing in the PRC, Jong Il Sim, leading a delegation of Korean women residing in the Russian Federation, “overseas women,” along with “officials of working people’s organizations, officials concerned, anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters, mothers who have devoted themselves to the upbringing of children and the drive for the prosperity of the country, wives of servicepersons, labor innovators, officials and other exemplary women.”

A view of the platform (rostrum) at the 4th National Meeting of Mothers at 25 April House of Culture in Pyongyang on 15 November 2012 (Photo: KCNA)

A view of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers at the 25 April House of Culture in Pyongyang on 15 November 2012 (Photo: KCNA)

KWP Secretary Kim Ki Nam delivers a congratulatory address on behalf of the party at the 4th National Meeting of Mothers at 25 April House of Culture in Pyongyang on 15 November 2012 (Photo: KCNA screengrab)

After a moment of silence for Kim Jong Il, Kim Ki Nam delivered a speech on behalf of the KWP.  Kim said that “Female Ch’o'llima rider depicted on the Statue of Ch’o'llima, a symbol of heroic Korea, which has shed its rays down through generations, features all mothers of the DPRK who displayed indomitable faith and heroic spirit in all fields in response to the call of the Party and the country” and thatthe mothers, who could hardly be freed from the burden of household chores for centuries, emerged powerful creators of the times and history. This history of landmark turn is associated with the lifetime indefatigable efforts of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il who led them every step of their way, attaching greater importance to their wisdom and strength than anybody else.”   According to KCNA ” the meeting discussed the tasks before the mothers and women to creditably discharge their mission for the prosperity of the country and harmony and happiness of society and families and the ways to do so.”

SPA Presidium President Kim Yong Nam (front row, C) attends the 4th National Meeting of Mothers in Pyongyang on 15 November 2012 (Photo: KCNA screengrab)

Ri Song Sil delivered congratulatory remarks on behalf of the Korean Democratic Women’s Union.  Ro said that, “under the military-first (so’ngun) leadership of the Party they have made a great contribution to the upbringing of children and the building of a thriving nation through their efforts to fulfill their responsibility and mission for society and families” and “Korean women in Japan and other overseas Korean women including mothers are giving stead continuity to Kim Il Sung’s nation, showing great sincerity for the prosperity of the socialist homeland.”  According to KCNA Ro “called upon all mothers and women to single-mindedly remain loyal to the idea and leadership of the dear respected Marshal Kim Jong Un and thus discharge their sacred responsibility and mission for the times and the revolution.”

Members of the Korean Children’s Union recite a poem at the end of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers in Pyongyang on 15 November 2012 (Photo: KCNA)

Ro’s remarks were followed by additional speeches.  After the speaking program KCNA reported that “a congratulatory group of the Korean Children’s Union entered the venue of the meeting and recited a congratulatory poem ‘Congratulations on the mothers’ meeting.’”

Flowers are presented to participants of the 4th National Meeting of Mothers on 15 November 2012 (Photo: KCNA)

On 16 November (Friday) the DPRK will celebrate its first Mothers’ Day.  16 November 2012 is the 51st anniversary of the First National Meeting of Mothers held on 16 November 1961.  During the first meeting of mothers Kim Il Sung’s essay “The Duty of Mothers in the Education of Children” was released.  1961 holds some significance in the annals of the Kim Family.  In April 1961, the Ch’o'llima statue was unveiled in Pyongyang, one of the first large monuments of kwangpok politics.    For three weeks during April and May 1961, according to the official chronicles, Kim Jong Il fulfilled his university student manual labor requirement at the Pyongyang Textile Machine Factory.  Also in May 1961 the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (f.k.a. Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland) was established.  In July 1961 then-Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and Kim Il Sung signed the DPRK-China treaty.  1961 was also the year that Kim Il Sung disseminated two agricultural policies, the development of fruit farming (at an April KWP Central Committee enlarged meeting in Pukch’o'ng County in South Hamgyo’ng Province) and the dissemination of a rural agricultural management policy in December.

Ko (L) with her son Kim Jong Un (R). This photograph illustrates the title of Kim Il Sung’ essay “The Duty of Mothers in the Education of Children.” (Photo: Party History Institute/Korea Documentary Film Studio via Mainichi Shimbun-Yonhap)

The Second National Meeting of Mothers occurred on  29 September 1998, days after Kim Jong Il formally assumed the DPRK government’s highest office of National Defense Commission Chairman.  A 27-year gap between mothers’ meetings might be explained as an early, oblique attempt to venerate Kim Jong Un’s mother Ko Yong Hui and establish, in the DPRK’s political culture, the legitimacy of the KJI-Ko family lineage.  The Third National Meeting of Mothers occurred on 24 November 2005, the year after Ko’s death.  The revival of the mothers’ meetings promoted–however subtly (to those “in the know”)–Ko’s importance.  But it was also a reference back to Kim Il Sung.  If Ko was linked to mothers’ meetings in 1998 and memorializing her formed the basis for the 2005 meeting, it aligned her son (at that time a toss-up between Jong Chol and Jong Un) directly with KIS’ treatise on the role of mothers in the DPRK from 1961 while also symbiotically associating the eventual hereditary successor with both KIS and KJI’s accomplishments from that year.

During this cursory flip-through of the Kims’ binders full of women, there are some other interesting similarities.  Like the second national meeting of mothers in 1998, the 4th national meeting occurred after Kim Jong Un formally assumed the supreme leadership position in the DPRK.  Throughout 2012, as part of KJU’s transition and power consolidations, a number of social and constituency groups (which reside under the KWP Workers’ Organizations Department) have gathered in Pyongyang.  The similarities in 1961 and 2012 are even more salient; as in 1961 the country has begun implementing (and retracting?) agricultural policies, a series of monuments to KIS and KJI have been erected in line with kwangpok politics, and the DPRK and China appear to be continuing amicable and substantial relations.  

Gifts Ceremony Held at Breast Cancer Research Center

View of an assembly hall at Pyongyang Maternity Hospital, the venue of a meeting at which it was announced that refrigerators and television sets would be presented to patient rooms at the hospital’s Breast Cancer Research Center (Photo: KCNA/KCTV still)

KWP Secretary Choe Tae Bok (L) speaks at a meeting at which it was announced that refrigerators and television sets would be presented to patient rooms at the Breast Cancer Research Center at Pyongyang Maternity Hospital (Photo: KCNC/KCTV still)

DPRK state media reported on 7 November (Wednesday) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) sent refrigerators and LCD television sets to patient rooms at the recently constructed Breast Cancer Research Center at the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital.  Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] Secretary Choe Tae Bok (Choe T’ae-pok) presided over a ceremony delivering KJU’s gifts to the hospital.  Also attending the ceremony was Kim Jin Ha, a secretary of the Pyongyang City (municipal) People’s Committee.  The presentation of the refrigerators and television sets to the hospital was initiated during Kim Jong Un’s visit there, which was reported by state media on 3 November.

Office #38 Repurposed?

Office #38 in the Korean Workers’ Party #1 Office Complex in central Pyongyang (Photo: Google image)

Kyodo News reported on 18 October (Thursday) that Office #38, a unit of the Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] Finance and Accounting Department which managed some of Kim Jong Il’s cash holdings, was a eliminated as part of a consolidation of the country’s foreign currency-generating activities under the DPRK Cabinet.  Kyodo News reported that “was part of efforts by the leadership of Kim Jong Un to streamline entities that earn foreign currency by conducting economic activity such as trade and development of natural resources” and “the move was also intended to revitalize the economy and improve people’s living standard by increasing the role of the Cabinet.”  Ownership of companies previously part of Office #38 has migrated to the Moranbong Bureau, an entity of the DPRK Cabinet.  According to Kyodo “the management division of a Pyongyang restaurant conducting business in China and Southeast Asia, for example, has been transferred from Office 38, which oversaw transactions involving hotels, restaurants, foreign currency shops and trade to the newly established entity called ‘Moranbong Bureau’ that some say belongs to the Cabinet.”

Office #38 and the KWP Finance and Accounting Department in the Central District of Pyongyang (Photo: Google image)

Overview of the KWP #1 Office Complex in central Pyongyang (Photo: Google image)

Office #38 was formally established under the KWP Central Committee Secretariat’s Finance and Accounting Department in the mid-1980s by the department’s director Ro Myong Gun (No Myo’ng-kun).  It was part of the Third Floor, a group of central party sections (units) and offices which supplied Kim Jong Il with information, money and household items, and linked directly to his Personal Secretariat.  The names Third Floor and Office #38 (i.e., Room 38) derive from their original locations in the KWP Central Committee #1 Office Building (KJI’s headquarters from the 1970s until his death in 2011).

The KWP Central Committee #1 Office Building, which was Kim Jong Il’s headquarters from the mid-1970s until his death in 2011. Office #38 derives its name from the room number in this building where it was previously located (Photo: Google image)

With a staff of accountants, bookkeepers and security guards, it controlled a network of holding companies which owned and operated hotels and restaurants located in the DPRK and other Asian countries, as well as various stores and factories located in the country.  Between 20 and 30% of the revenue generated was turned over in cash (US Dollars, Euros) to Kim Jong Il, who would use it to pay his personal staff or dispense to members of his family, close aides and other senior DPRK officials (as gifts).  Office #38 was the not only central party unit responsible for managing KJI or Kim family financial assets or subsidizing his private life, but it was a key organization with regard to the technical and logistical administration of KJI’s money within the DPRK.  Office #38 personnel also escorted KJI’s fourth wife Ko Yong Hui (Ko Yo’ng-hu’i) and current supreme leader Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) when they traveled abroad in the early 1990s, as well as Kim Jong Chol (Kim Cho’ng-ch’o'l) when he visited Singapore in February 2011.

Kim Tong Un (L) and Han Kwang Sang (R) (Photos: KCNA)

Daily management of Office #38 has divided between Kim Tong Un (Kim To’ng-u’n) and Han Kwang Sang.  Previously director of Office #39 (also rumored to have been under a consolidation and migration process), Kim Tong Un was subjected to travel sanctions by the European Union in 2009 and replaced by Jon Il Chun (Cho’n Il-ch’un) in early 2010.  Kim was not dismissed from office, but transferred to Office #38.  In February 2010 Han Kwang Sang was appointed a deputy director of the Finance and Accounting Department, and appeared with Kim Jong Il on a tour of the renovated Hyangsan Hotel.  It is likely Han was brought in to manage the Kim Jong Un portfolio in Office #38 and supervise the transfer of companies under Office #38 to the DPRK Cabinet.  Based on recent DPRK state media activity, neither Kim Tong Un nor Han Kwang Sang, has been dismissed from office.  Migrating most of Office #38′s responsibilities to other party and government entities conforms to a general trend in the organizations of the core leadership.  Since 2009, elements of Office #39, Office #35 (intelligence briefs) and KJI’s Personal Secretariat have been folded into the DPRK Government, the National Defense Commission [NDC] and the Guard Command during the transition from KJI to KJU.

The DPRK has recently started to heavily promote tourism in the country to China and the number of western tourists visiting the DPRK is as high as it has ever been.  Considering that a lot of businesses managed by Office #38 were part of the hospitality and restaurant sector in the DPRK, migrating control and management from Office #38 to the DPRK Cabinet mitigates the sanctimonious contention that traveling to the country “props up the regime.” It is likely these management changes were one factor in the closure of the Pyongyang Restaurant in Amsterdam in September.  It is also possible that these recent changes were one reason** Kim Kyong Hui (who owns several restaurants in and out of the country) did not appear in DPRK state media for a month.

**And also shopping for baby clothes.

 

Kim Jong Suk Death Anniversary Commemorated

A floral wreath from Kim Jong Un (L) beside the memorial bust of Kim Jong Suk in the Revolutionary Martyrs’ Cemetery in Pyongyang (Photo: KCNA)

DPRK state media reported on 22 September (Saturday) that floral baskets were delivered to the Revolutionary Martyrs’ Cemetery on  in Pyongyang in commemoration of the 63rd anniversary of the death of Kim Jong Suk (Kim Cho’ng-suk).  A floral wreath was delivered to Kim Jong Suk’s memorial bust in the cemetery on behalf of Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n).  Members of the DPRK central leadership including Kim Yong Nam, Choe Yong Rim, VMar Choe Ryong Hae, Kang Sok Ju attended the ceremony along with “other leading officials of the party, state and army, the chairperson of a friendly party, officials of party, armed forces and power organs, the Cabinet, working people’s organizations, ministries and national institutions, service persons of the Korean People’s Army and the Korean People’s Internal Security Forces and Pyongyangites.”

Members of the central leadership attend a wreath laying ceremony in front of the memorial bust of Kim Jong Suk in the Revolutionary Martyrs’ Cemetery in Pyongyang. Among those seen in attendance are: VMar Kim Jong Gak (5th L), VMar Choe Ryong Hae (6th L), Kim Yong Nam (7th L), Choe Yong Rim (5th R), Kim Ki Nam (4th R), Yang Hyong Sop (3rd R), Kang Sok Ju (2nd R) and Pak To Chun (R) (Photo: KCTV/KCNA screen grab)

Members of the Kim Il Sung Youth League and the Young Red Guard salute during a wreath laying ceremony at Kim Jong Suk’s memorial bust (Photo: KCNA)

KCNA reported that floral wreaths were placed near Kim Jong Suk’s memorial bust on behalf of “the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces, the Ministry of People’s Security, working people’s organizations, ministries and national institutions, KPA units, educational, literary and arts, public health and media institutions, the Joint National Organization of the Korean Children’s Union, party and power organs, factories and farms in the city.”  According to KCNA during the ceremony, “participants paid silent tribute to Kim Jong Suk, looking back on her immortal life.”

Floral baskets sit beneath the pedestal of a statue of Kim Jong Suk in Hoeryo’ng, North Hamgyo’ng Province (Photo: KCNA/KCTV screen grab)

DPRK state media also reported that similar memorial ceremonies were held at in Kim Jong Suk County, Yanggang Province, the Kim Jong Suk General Military Academy, Kim Jong Suk Naval University in South Hamgyo’ng Province and at a historical site marking Kim Jong Suk’s birthplace in Hoeryo’ng, North Hamgyo’ng Province.

Kim Jong Suk statue on the campus of the Kim Jong Suk Naval University in South Hamgyo’ng Province (top image) and senior party officials (Tae Jong Su and Kim Yong Gyu) delivering a floral basket to the statue (bottom image) (Photos: KCNA/KCTV screen grab)

Kim Jong Suk was the first wife of the late DPRK President and founder Kim Il Sung.  She was the mother of Kim Kyong Hui (b. 1946), a member of the Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] Political Bureau and a KWP Secretary, and two of Kim Il Sung’s other children, late supreme leader Kim Jong Il (1941-2011) and Kim Pyong Il (1944-1947), who drowned in a water retention pond.  Kim Jong Suk had a public role in the DPRK’s early political culture, including dedicating the first Kim Il Sung statue on the campus of Mangyo’ngdae Revolutionary School in 1947.  She died due to complications from an extrauterine pregnancy in 1949.

Kim Jong Un Visits Vegetable Science and Pyongyang Floriculture Institutes

Kim Jong Un (C) tours a greenhouse in the Pyongyang Vegetable Science Institute. Also seen in attendance is Jang Song Taek (R), Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission and Director of the Korean Workers’ Party Administration Department (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

DPRK state media reported on 21 September (Friday) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) visited the Pyongyang Floricultural Institute and the Pyongyang Vegetable Science Institute.  KJU’s last reported public appearance was his attendance of the “Arirang” Mass Games.  At his visit to the research institutes, KJU was accompanied by Jang Song Taek, Kim Ki Nam, Ri Jae Il, Ri Ryong Ha, Pak Tae Song, Kim Pyong Ho and Pak Chun Hong.  Kim Jong Un’s first stop was to the Vegetable Science Institute where he toured greenhouses, laboratories and research facilities.  KCNA reported that during his visit, KJU discussed alternative energy sources (“Only when geothermal, solar heat and wind power energy are widely used for heating greenhouses, is it possible to reduce production cost and ensure profitability in operating them”)  and described the institute as “a sea of greenhouses. . .stressing the need for all provinces to build such greenhouses.”  Before attending a commemorative photo session with the Vegetable Science Institute’s staff he “expressed expectation that the scientists and employees of the institute would achieve great successes in researches and production of vegetables.”

Kim Jong Un examines floral arrangements during a visit to the Pyongyang Floriculture Institute (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

Kim Jong Un’s second visit was to the Pyongyang Floriculture Institute.  He was briefed about the floricultural institute’s ongoing research and activities.  KCNA reported that KJU “expressed his great satisfaction over the fact that the institute increased its production capacity more than 20 times than that in the past, making it possible to send lots of flowers to the flower shops.”  He toured a greenhouse growing orchids and a manufacturing facility, then attended a photo-op with the institute’s employees.    After telling the floricultural institute’s employees to “import world-famous species of flowers and acclimatize them to the climatic and soil conditions of the country,” KCNA reported that he “underlined the need for the floricultural research field to actively learn from good experience of other countries.”  According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un “extended his thanks to the teaching staff and students of Kim Il Sung University, soldier builders, scientists and employees for their patriotic devotion to the construction of the Pyongyang Vegetable Science Institute and the Pyongyang Floriculture Institute.”