Ju Sang-song ( born August 1933) is a

North 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 ...

n politician and former Minister of People's Security.

Biography

Ju Sang-song was born in Kangwon-do Province in 1933, joined 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 ...

in June 1951, and later attended the

Kim Il Sung Military University Kim Il Sung Military University (also known as Kim Il Sung Military Academy) is a university located in Mangyongdae-guyok, Pyongyang, capital of North Korea. Founded in 1948 and named after Kim Il Sung, founder of North Korea, the school is a po ...

. During his career, he served as senior operations staff officer of an army corps, brigade commander, divisional commander, chief of staff of regional headquarters, commander of an army corps and inspector of the General Staff."Profiles of Presidium and Members of Political Bureau"
KCNA, 29 September 2010. In 1970 he was elected alternate member of the 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 ...

at the 5th Party Congress, and he was first elected deputy to 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 ...

in 1990. He served as chairman of the SPA Legislation Committee. On December 24, 1991, he was promoted to full member of the WPK Central Committee, during the same meeting (the 19th Plenary Meeting of the 6th Central Committee) that appointed

Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader of North Korea from Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, the de ...

as the new

Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Democratic People's Republic of Korea () is the commander-in-chief of the Korean People's Army, the military of North Korea. The office was established on 4 July 1950 and abolished with the passin ...

. The 1990s saw an increase of his importance: in 1992 he was promoted to

colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

and served in

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

's funeral committee in 1994. In February 1997 he was appointed

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

, right on Kim Jong Il's 55th birthday, and received command of the IV Army Corps in

South Hwanghae Province South Hwanghae Province (Hwanghaenamdo; , lit. "south Yellow Sea province") is a province in western North Korea. The province was formed in 1954 when the former Hwanghae Province was split into North and South Hwanghae. The provincial capital i ...

. In late 2003, Ju was recalled to

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

and replaced Choe Yong-su as Minister of Public Security in 2004. He was also elected a member of the National Defence Commission in 2009, as part of a plan to expand the Commission membership."Gen. Chu Sang-song"
North Korea Leadership Watch. In the spring of 2010, the Ministry of Public Security was put directly under the

National Defence Commission The National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (NDC) was the highest state institution for military and national defence leadership in North Korea, which also served as the highest governing institution of the countr ...

and renamed Ministry of People's Security, with full responsibility over the Korean People's Internal Security Force. Ju Sang-song was confirmed its minister, although he was now under NDC Vice-chairman Chang Sung-taek. His status was furtherly enhanced at the September 2010 Conference of the Workers' Party of Korea, as he was re-elected Central Committee member and promoted to Politburo member. Ju Sang-song's last public appearance was during a performance of the Korean People's Internal Security Forces Song and Dance Ensemble honouring Kim Jong Il's 69th birthday in February, 2011. He was officially dismissed on March 16 by decision of the NDC, with the

Korean Central News Agency The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) () is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946, and now features ...

reporting: "Ju Sang Song, minister of People’s Security of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, was dismissed from his post due to illness".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ju, Sang-song North Korean generals 1933 births Living people People from Kangwon Province (North Korea) Members of the Supreme People's Assembly Government ministers of North Korea Members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Alternate members of the 5th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Alternate members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea