Ju Kyu Chang is a Member of the National Defense Commission and director of the CC KWP Machine-Building Industry Department. In September 2010 Ju was elected to membership on the Party Central Military Commission and alternate membership on the CC KWP Political Bureau.
Ju came to the attention of Pyongyang watchers in 2000 when he was appointed deputy director of CC KWP Military Industry Department, and began escorting Kim Jong Il on guidance tours, he is regularly observed in KJI’s retinue.
Ju Kyu Chang was born in South Hamgyong Province in 1928. He studied engineering inside the DPRK He began his career at the Ministry of Machine Building Industries in the 1960s, while holding a concurrent party position in the early incarnation of the party’s Military (Munitions) Industry. He was elected a Candidate Member of the Party Central Committee (CC KWP) at the 5th Party Congress in 1970.
Ju participated, with Jon Pyong Ho, in the consolidation of party control of the DPRK military industrial complex which occurred over several years from about the late 1960s to the early 1970s, which led to the creation of the Second Economic Committee. By 1974 he was serving as Vice Chairman of the SEC. In the 1970s Ju Kyu Chang served successively as a director, vice president and president of the Academy of National Defense Science.
Ju Kyu Chang became President of the Second National Academy of Natural Sciences, which coordinates research, development and education for the DPRK’s military industry. In the 1980s he also held the position of Vice Minister of Machine Building Industry. He was elected to full membership on the Party Central Committee at the 15th plenum of the 6th Central Committee (6th Term/6th Congress) in December 1988.
Ju Kyu Chang (L) attending a guidance tour with KJI in 2010 (Photo: KCNA)
In 1998 Ju left his position as the President of the Second National Academy of Natural Sciences. It is possible he served as Chairman of the Second Economic Committee during the late 1990s. He was elected a deputy to the 10th Supreme People’s Assembly, a position which he has retained. In 2000 Ju Kyu Chang was appointed deputy director of the CC KWP Military Industry Department, replacing Pak Song Bong, and began attending guidance tours and concerts with Kim Jong Il. He was elected to the National Defense Commission at the first plenum of the 12th SPA in April 2009, and has occasionally appeared as a 2nd or 1st Row rostrum member at national and central report meetings.
In 2010 Ju Kyu Chang was appointed CC KWP Director of Machine-Building Industry. At the 3rd Party Conference in September 2010 Ju was elected a member of the Party Central Military Commission and alternate member of the CC KWP Political Bureau.
Due to his ties to the Second Economic Committee, as well as his involvement in the development of the DPRK’s ballistic missile program, Ju is subjected to several international travel sanctions.
Campus of the Second National Academy of Natural Sciences, Ryongsong District, Pyongyang (Photo: Google Earth)
Ju Kyu Chang
Member, National Defense Commission
Deputy Director, CC KWP Military Industry Department
Past Vice Chairman, Second Economic Committee
Member, Party Central Committee
1970: Elected, Alternate Member, CCKWP
1974: Appointed, Vice Chairman, Second Economic Committee, KWP
1983: Vice Minister, Machine Building Industry
1988: Elected, Member, CCKWP
1994: Member, Kim il Sung Funeral Committee
1995: Member, O Jin U Funeral Committee
1998: Deputy, 10th SPA
2000: Deputy Director, CC KWP Military Industry Department
2003: Deputy 11th SPA
2009: Delegate (Deputy), 12th SPA
Elected, NDC Member
2010: CC KWP Director Machine-Building Industry Department
Member, Central Military Commission
Alternate Member, CC KWP Political Bureau
See also:
Bermudez, Joseph S., Jr. The Armed Forces of North Korea (New York, NY: IB Tauris, 2001)
Gause, Ken. Scenarios and Signposts: Managing Future North Korean Crises (Alexandria, VA: CAN, June 2009)
Yonhap News Agency. North Korea Handbook (Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe, 2003) pp. 179; 812
