Kim Tong-gyu (; 1915 - unknown) was a politician of the

Democratic People's Republic of 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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

who served as Vice President of North Korea.

Biography

Kim was born in former

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

in northeastern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He took part in anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare, and studied in Soviet Union. In 1961, he became a member of the 4th Central Committee of the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

. In 1962, he became a delegate of the Supreme People's Assembly. In November 1970, he became a member of the 5th WPK Political Committee at the

5th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea The 5th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea took place from 2 to 13 November 1970. At the time, there were approximately 1.6 million party members—around 13% of the population. Of these, 1,734 attended the congress. During the event, Kim I ...

.Sung Chul Yang. The North And South Korean Political Systems: A Comparative Analysis, p.341 He became a member of the (the predecessor of the

Cabinet of North Korea The Cabinet of Democratic People's Republic of Korea () is the supreme administrative organ of North Korea. The Cabinet's official newspaper is '' Minju Choson''. History In North Korea's first constitution, adopted in 1948, the executive po ...

) when it was established at the first meeting of the 5th term of the Supreme People's Assembly in December 1972. He was elected

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

at the 4th meeting of the 5th convocation of the Supreme People's Assembly in November 1974 and was mainly involved in

diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...

. In June 1976, at the party political committee, he said, "The successor's emergence is too quick. We must strengthen our education with a time that the people can be satisfied with." He criticized the creation of a successor system.“The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps (p. 41)”, David Hawk, He was purged in October 1977 and was not re-elected as Vice Chairman and

Central People's Committee Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

at the 6th session of the 1st session in December 1977. He is assumed to have been purged and exiled due to his opposition to the Kim Jong Il succession, and later detained in a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Tong-gyu Vice presidents of North Korea Workers' Party of Korea politicians Members of the Supreme People's Assembly 1915 births Year of death missing People of 88th Separate Rifle Brigade