Choe Yong-gon (; 21 June 1900 – 19 September 1976) was a North Korean military officer and politician. He served as the Chief Commander of the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) encompasses the combined military forces of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). The KPA consists of five branches: the Korean People's Army Ground Force, Ground Force, the Ko ...

from 1948 to 1950, and as

defence minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

from 1948 to 1957. He also served as

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the

Standing Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

of the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the legislature of North Korea. It is ostensibly the highest organ of state power and the only branch of government in North Korea, with all state organs subservient to it under the principle of unified ...

of North Korea from 1957 to 1972.

Early life and education

Choe was born in Taechon County, North Pyongan,

Korean Empire The Korean Empire, officially the Empire of Korea or Imperial Korea, was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by King Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire lasted until the Japanese annexation of Korea in August 1910. Dur ...

in 1900. He was educated at two military academies.

Career

200px, left, Choe Yong-gon, Kim Il, and Kang Kon">Kim_Il_(politician).html" ;"title="Kim Chaek, Kim Il, and Kang Kon receiving the first domestically produced PPSh-41">Type 49 submachine guns from President Kim Il Sung">Kim Il (politician)">Kim Il, and Kang Kon receiving the first domestically produced PPSh-41">Type 49 submachine guns from President Kim Il Sung, 1949. image:1963-08 1963年崔庸健与刘少奇.jpg, 200px, left, Choe Yong-gon with the Chairman of the People's Republic of China Liu Shaoqi during his official visit to Beijing, 5 June 1963. Choe's first military deployment was to fight the Chinese

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT) against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The purpose of the campaign was to reunify China prop ...

of 1927. He also took part in the Canton Communist riots in December later that year. He moved to Manchuria to form a guerrilla organization and military academy school to train the anti-Japanese guerrilla army. Choe joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

and the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in 1936. He led a guerrilla unit against the Japanese after they occupied

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 ...

(

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

) in September 1931. In 1940, Choe and his troops had fled to the Soviet-Manchurian border in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and participated with the 88th Independent Brigade of the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

. In 1945, he returned to Korea after Japan was defeated in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1946, he became the chairman of the Korean Democratic Party (KDP) and led this organization to a pro-

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

course. He was, however, concurrently secretly a member of the ruling

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 ...

and tasked with keeping the KDP from becoming an independent political force. Afterwards, he came into more promotions and by February 1948, he was appointed the Chief Commander of the Korean People's Army. When North Korea was established in Pyongyang on September 9, 1948, he was appointed the Minister of National Security. He was in fact the senior field commander for all the North Korean armies during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, from the first invasion of South Korea in June 1950 till the

Korean Armistice Agreement The Korean Armistice Agreement (; zh, t=韓國停戰協定 / 朝鮮停戰協定) is an armistice that brought about a cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. It was signed by United States Army Lieutenant General William Kelly Harrison Jr ...

was signed in July 1953. In 1953, Choe was promoted to Vice Marshal and was made the

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

. In September 1957, he was removed from his position as Minister of Defense and made the

President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly The chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, formerly known as the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, w ...

, a largely ceremonial position. In this post, he was North Korea's nominal

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

. He was appointed as

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 ...

by the

in 1972 and he left the office in 1974. He died in Pyongyang in 1976. Following his death he was given a state funeral.

Personal life

200px, left, Choe Yong-gon and Kim Il Sung at Kim Chaek's funeral, 1 February 1951.">Kim_Chaek.html" ;"title="Kim Il Sung at Kim Chaek">Kim Il Sung at Kim Chaek's funeral, 1 February 1951. In his memoirs, Hwang Jang-yop, a former chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly who North Korean defectors, defected to South Korea said Choe was famous for being very hard to have close relations with, but in reality he was not that strict."Seeds of Juche Sown by Sino-Soviet Split", Hwang Jang Yop's memories In 1970 there were reports of his deteriorating health, and after attending in November 1970 the KWP Congress and retaining his Vice-Marshal position, he departed for treatment in the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Works

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References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Choe, Yong-gon 1900 births 1976 deaths North Korean atheists Korean communists People from Taechon County Korean Social Democratic Party politicians Heads of state of North Korea Vice presidents of North Korea North Korean generals North Korean military personnel of the Korean War Chairmen of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly Kim Won-bong Vice premiers of North Korea Defence ministers of North Korea Vice Chairmen of the Workers' Party of Korea and its predecessors Members of the 1st Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 2nd Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 3rd Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 4th Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 5th Supreme People's Assembly People of 88th Separate Rifle Brigade White Shirts Society Korean resistance members

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Works

See also

References