Choe Yong-gon (army commander)

Choe Yong-gon (Korean: 최용건; Hanja: 崔庸健; 21 June 1900 – 19 September 1976) was the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army from 1948 to 1950, North Korean defence minister from 1948 to 1957, and the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea from 1957 to 1972.

Not to be confused with Choe Yong-gon (vice-premier).

This is a Korean name; the family name is Choe.

Choe Yong-gon
최용건 Ch'oe Yonggŏn
Choi Yong-kun at the funeral of Kim Chaek (1951)
Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army
In office 2 September 1948 – 4 July 1950
Leader	Kim Il-sung
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Kim Il-sung
2nd President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly
In office 20 September 1957 – 28 December 1972
Leader	Kim Il-sung
Preceded by	Kim Tu-bong
Succeeded by	Hwang Jang-yop
Personal details
Born	21 June 1900 Taechon County, North Pyongan, Korean Empire
Died	19 September 1976(1976-09-19) (aged 76) Pyongyang, North Korea
Nationality	Korean
Political party	Korean Democratic Party, Workers' Party of Korea
Military service
Allegiance	North Korea
Branch/service	Korean People's Army
Years of service	1948–1976
Rank	Ch'asu (Vice Marshal)
Commands	Supreme Commander
Battles/wars	Chinese Civil War Korean Independence Movement World War II Korean War

Choe Yong-gon
Chosŏn'gŭl	최용건
Hancha	崔庸健
Revised Romanization	Choe Yonggeon
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'oe Yonggŏn

Early life and education

Choe was born in Taechon County (태천군, 泰川郡) in North Pyongan, Korea, in 1900. He was educated at two military academies.

Career

Choe's first military deployment was to fight the Chinese Northern Expedition of 1927. He also took part in the Canton Communist riots in December later that year.

He led a guerrilla unit against the Japanese after they occupied Manchuria in September 1931.

In 1946, he became the chairman of the Korean Democratic Party (KDP) and led this organization to a pro-communist course.[1] He was, however, concurrently secretly a member of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and tasked with keeping the KDP from becoming an independent political force.[2] Afterwards, he came into more promotions and by February 1948, he was appointed the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army.[1] He was in fact the senior field commander for all the North Korean armies during the Korean War, from the first invasion of South Korea in June 1950 till the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in July 1953.

In 1953, Choe was promoted to Vice Marshal and was made the Minister of Defence.[1] 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, a largely ceremonial position.[1] In this post, he was North Korea's nominal head of state. He was appointed as Vice President by the Supreme People's Assembly in 1972 and he left the office in 1974.[3][4] He died in Pyongyang in 1976.[5] Following his death he was given a state funeral.[6]

Personal life

In his memoirs, a former chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly who defected said Choe was famous for being very hard to have close relations with, but in reality he was not that strict.[7]

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 Democratic Republic of Germany.[8]

References

1. Fyodor Tertitskiy (12 June 2014). "An Exception to the Rules of Kimism". DailyNK. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
2. Lankov, Andrei N. (1999). "Kim Il Sung's Campaign against the Soviet Faction in Late 1955 and the Birth of Chuch'e". Korean Studies. 23 (1): 47. doi:10.1353/ks.1999.0003. ISSN 1529-1529.
3. Chiefs of State and Cabinet members of foreign governments / National Foreign Assessment Center. 1973Jan-June. hdl:2027/osu.32435024020067.
4. Chiefs of State and Cabinet members of foreign governments / National Foreign Assessment Center. 1974July-Dec. hdl:2027/osu.32435024020059.
5. "Choe Yong-Kon". The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). The Gale Group. 1970–1979.
6. Buzo, Adrian (8 September 2017). Politics and Leadership in North Korea: The Guerilla Dynasty. ISBN 9781317284970.
7. "Seeds of Juche Sown by Sino-Soviet Split", Hwang Jang Yop's memories
8. R. S. Milward (Chapter on Korea) (1971). Macadam, Ivison; Grindrod, Muriel; Boas, Ann (eds.). The Annual Register of World Events 1970. 212. Great Britain: St. Martin's Press, Longmans, Green and Co Ltd. p. 312.

Political offices
Preceded by Kim Tu-bong	Head of State of North Korea 20 September 1957 – 28 December 1972	Succeeded by Kim Il-sung as President of the Republic
Preceded by Kim Tu-bong	Chairmen of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly 1957–1972	Succeeded by Hwang Jang-yop
Preceded by —	Minister of People's Armed Forces 7 February 1953 – 20 September 1957	Succeeded by Kim Kwang-hyop
Military offices
Preceded by New Office	Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army 8 February 1948 – 4 July 1950	Succeeded by Kim Il-sung