Kim Yong-chol (; born 1946) is a North Korean general and politician. From February 2009 to January 2016 he was the director of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, the country's primary intelligence service. From 2016 to 2019, and again from 2021 to 2022, he served as the head of the United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea. He also served as the vice chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea for South Korean affairs from 2016 to 2021.

Early life

Kim Yong-chol was born in 1946 in Ryanggang Province.

Career

In 1962 he served in the 15th Division, a civil police company guarding the

Korean Demilitarized Zone The Korean Demilitarized Zone () is a heavily militarized strip of land running across the Korea, Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in half. It wa ...

. In 1968 he was appointed a liaison officer to the United Nations Command, Military Armistice Commission, Korea. In 1976, he was made a division commander of the

Supreme Guard Command Supreme Guard Command () (also known as Unit 963, the Escort Bureau, Guard Command, Bodyguard Command, SGC, Guard Bureau and the General Guard Bureau) is the protective security unit tasked with the protection of North Korea's ruling Kim dynasty ...

. In 1990 he was promoted to major general and became deputy director of the Ministry of People's Armed Forces and director of the MPAF Reconnaissance Bureau. In 1998 he was elected as a deputy to the 10th

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 ...

and again in 2003 to the 11th. In 2009, he was appointed director of the Reconnaissance General Bureau and Vice-Chief of the General Staff Department of the Korean People's Army. He was also elected as a deputy to the 12th

. In 2010, he was promoted to Colonel-General and elected to the

Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea The Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (CMC) () is an organ of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) which heads the Korean People's Army (KPA). One of the CMC's primary functions is to authorize ...

and the 6th

Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea The Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea is the Central committee, highest organ between National meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea, national meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of North Korea. Accor ...

. He was a member of the funeral committee of Jo Myong-rok. In 2011, he was a member of the funeral committee of

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 ...

A letter from North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un

In 2012 he was promoted to general. In 2014, he was elected as a deputy to the 13th

and served on the funeral committee of Jon Pyong-ho. In May 2016, he was elected to the 7th

. He was elected as a member of the

Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea In North Korea, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), or simply the Politburo, formerly the Political Committee (1946–61), is the highest decision-making body in the ruling party between sessions ...

, the

and as Vice-Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea. He was appointed director of the United Front Department and served on the funeral committees of Kang Sok-ju and Ryu Mi-yong, and he was elected to the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly. Kim was sent as part of North Korea's Olympic delegation to the closing ceremony of the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

held on 24 February 2018. His presence was controversial, mostly due to allegations that Kim was responsible for orchestrating an attack on a South Korean naval ship in 2010 that killed 46 sailors. An article in the ''Hangook Ilbo'' warned that Kim's attendance could send "raging waves" throughout the Korean Peninsula, but the games closed without incident. On 30 May 2018, Kim flew to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

via

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 ...

for talks with

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...

regarding the 2018 North Korea–United States summit. He was hosted at a residential facility of the US delegation to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

for highly "private" conversations with US counterparts. He then visited the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

for talks with the US President,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

on 1 June. During this meeting, he delivered a letter to Trump from

Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...

. Because he is subject to US sanctions, the visit required a travel waiver. On 24 April 2019,

Yonhap News Agency Yonhap News Agency (; ) is a major news agency in South Korea. It is based in Seoul, South Korea. Yonhap provides news articles, pictures, and other information to newspapers, TV networks and other media in South Korea. History Yonhap was esta ...

reported that North Korea has removed Kim Yong-chol from the head of the United Front Department. In July 2020, it was reported that Kim Yong-chol was mentioned in a Rodong Sinmun article in relation to North-South communications working with Kim Yo Jong. Also prior to the article on 24 June 2020, Kim Yong-chol condemned remarks by the South Korean defence minister when he called for "mutual efforts" to reduce tensions between the two Koreas. In June 2023, he was appointed an adviser of the United Front Department.

Awards and honours

A picture of Kim shows him wearing the ribbons to all decorations awarded to him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Yong-chol North Korean generals Living people 21st-century North Korean people People from Ryanggang Province 1946 births Date of birth missing (living people) Members of the Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 8th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Vice Chairmen of the Workers' Party of Korea and its predecessors