hankyoreh

By Choi Hyun-june, staff reporter

One of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s right-hand men has been promoted to vice marshal for the Korean People’s Army (KPA).

Hwang Pyong-so, 65, first deputy director of the Workers’ Party of Korea Organization and Guidance Department, was promoted to the position of vice marshal, according to the North Korean news reports. The move, which comes less than two weeks after he was confirmed to have been promoted to four-star general, has many observers watching closely to predict his future role in the regime.

Hwang’s promotion may have been intended to check the power of North Korea’s current “number two,” KPA general politburo chief Choi Ryong-hae.

In an Apr. 28 report, Korean Central Television announced, “the title of Korean People’s Army vice marshal has been conferred upon Comrade Hwang Pyong-so.”

“Related decisions by the Workers’ Party Central Military Commission and the Democratic People’s Republic of Choson [Korea] Central Defense Commission were announced on Apr. 26,” the report continued.

Hwang’s promotion to four-star general was confirmed during a first annual aviators’ meeting in Pyongyang on Apr. 15. At present, only five other people in North Korea hold the rank of vice marshal - besides Choi, they include “old guard” figures Kim Yong-chun, Kim Chong-gak, Ri Yong-mu, and Hyon Chol-hae.

The only higher positions in the North Korean military are “marshal of the republic,” held by Kim Jong-un, and marshal of the KPA, held by 93-year-old Ri Ul-sol.

“Our understanding is that no one in North Korea besides Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, or Kim Jong-un has ever risen to the rank of vice marshal so fast,” said a Ministry of Unification official on condition of anonymity.

Now that he has been promoted, Hwang is expected to take on major duties within the KPA general politbureau. He could be groomed as a successor to Choe, who is reportedly in ill health. Some are speculating he may have already taken over the position of first deputy director, the politbureau’s second highest post.

Hwang’s promotion also hints at a stronger role for the Organizational Guidance Bureau, which serves as a check on the military within the WPK. For this reason, the move could be intended as a check against Choi.

“It looks as though the Organization and Guidance Department’s role in the party has gotten stronger, while Choi Ryong-hae’s has diminished, with Kim Jong-un making indirect criticisms of him,” said Chang Yong-seok, a senior researcher at the Seoul National University Institute for Peace and Unification Studies.

“Now that Jang Song-thaek has been purged, it looks like they’re moving to a ‘two-headed’ system, with Hwang Pyong-so in charge of the party and Choi Ryong-hae of the military,” Chang added.

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