Order of the National Flag

The Order of the National Flag (Korean: 국기훈장; MR: Kukki Hunjang) is the second highest order of North Korea, after the Order of Kim Il-sung and the Order of Kim Jong-il.

Order of the National Flag
Order of the National Flag stars
Awarded by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Country	North Korea
Eligibility	Individuals and organizations, for political, cultural or economic work, recipients of the Hero of the Republic, Hero of Labour, Order of Freedom and Independence and Order of Soldier's Honor in the appropriate class and various "People's" honorary titles
Status	Active
Statistics
Established	12 October 1948 (1948-10-12)
Total awarded	1st Class 100,000+ 2nd Class 200,000+ 3rd Class 1,100,000+
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of Kim Il-sung, Order of Kim Jong-il
Related	Hero of the Republic, Hero of Labour

Order of the National Flag
Chosŏn'gŭl	국기훈장[1]
Hancha	國旗勳章
Revised Romanization	Gukgi hunjang
McCune–Reischauer	Kukki Hunjang[2]

First, second, and third class Order of the National Flag with ribbons

It is the oldest order in the country, having been established in 1948, just six weeks after the North Korean state was founded.

The order is awarded to both individuals and organizations, for political, cultural or economic work. The order, which comes in three classes, is automatically conferred upon recipients of the titles of Hero of the Republic and Hero of Labour and various "People's" honorary titles. The Order of the National Flag is also awarded to recipients of the Order of Freedom and Independence and Order of Soldier's Honor in the appropriate class. Recipients are entitled to benefits such as a salary or free public transport.

Domestic recipients include both leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il and other notables. Foreign recipients include politicians such as Fidel Castro, Hosni Mubarak and Siad Barre.

History

When the order was instituted on 12 October 1948,[2] six weeks after the foundation of the North Korean state, it was the first and highest order of the country.[1]

Eligibility

It can be awarded to individuals and to organizations or workplaces for achievements in military service[3] or political, cultural, or economic work. It is also awarded to officers of the Workers' Party of Korea for longstanding service (25 years for the first class, 20 years for the second class and 15 years for the third class).[4]

Those who are awarded the title of Hero of the Republic or Hero of Labour are always awarded with the Order of the National Flag as well, as are laureates of "People's" honorary titles.[5] Recipients of the Order of Freedom and Independence receive the Order of the National Flag of the same class, but Order of Soldier's Honor recipients receive the Order of the National Flag in a lower class.[1] Recipients have the right to use public transport free of charge.[6] Disabled and retired recipients receive an annual salary along with the order.[1]

Precedence

The Order of the National Flag is the second highest order of North Korea, after the Order of Kim Il-sung and the Order of Kim Jong-il, which share the first place. The order has three classes.[1]

Recipients

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

North Korean recipients

• Kim Il-sung (6 February 1951, first class;[1] 28 July 1953, first class[7][8])
• Han Sorya (26 April 1951, second class)[9]
• Im Hwa (26 April 1951, second class)[9]
• Cho Ki-chon (26 April 1951, second class)[9]
• Ri Ki-yong (26 April 1951, second class)[9]
• Yi T'aejun (26 April 1951, second class)[9]
• Kim Chogyu (26 April 1951, third class)[9]
• Pak Unggŏl (26 April 1951, third class)[9]
• Shin Kosong (26 April 1951, third class)[9]
• Pak Chong-ae (July 1953, second class; first class)[10]
• Thae Byong-ryol
• Jang Chol (August 1961, first class)[11]
• Ri Tu-il (June 1968, first class)[12]
• Kim Ryong-yong (January 1976, first class)[13]
• Choe Sam-suk (1982, first class)[14]
• Kim Jong-il (1982, first class)[15]
• Jong Chang-ryol (June 1986, first class)[16]
• Kim Su-jo (October 1989, first class)[17]
• Paek Hak-rim (April 1997, first class)[18]
• Ri Ul-sol (April 1997, first class)[19]
• O Ik-je (September 1997, first class)[20]
• Jon Pyong-ho (February 1998, first class)[21]
• Ryu Mi-yong (January 1991, first class)[22]
• Han Duk-su (first class ten times)[23]
• Hyon Yong-chol (eight times first class, five times second class, and twice third class)[24]
• Jo Myong-rok (first class)[25]
• Kim Jung-rin (first class)[26]
• Kim Rak-hui (first class)[27]
• Lee Kwon-mu (first class)[28]
• Ri Jong-ok (first class)[29]
• At the beginning of 2010, North Korean media announced that the Order of the National Flag, first class, was posthumously awarded to the captain and first mechanics of the freighter that sunk in November 2009 by the Chinese city of Dalian. The crew attempted to salvage the ship's portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.[30]
• Pyongyang University of Music and Dance (first class)[31]
• Kigwancha Sports Club (first class)[32]
• Chongnyon Jonwi (first class)[33]

Foreign recipients

• Peng Dehuai (China, 1951 and 1953, first class)[34]
• Nureddin al-Atassi (Syria, September 1969, first class)[35]
• Siad Barre (Democratic Republic of Somalia, 1972, first class)[36]
• Gnassingbé Eyadéma (Togo, September 1974, first class)[37]
• Samora Machel (Mozambique, March 1975, first class)[38]
• Ferdinand Kozovski (Bulgarian Lieutenant general of Bulgarian army , deputy komander of Bulgarian army 1944-1945 in Second world war, Chairman of National assembly of Bulgaria 1958-1965)
• Leonid Brezhnev (Soviet Union, 18 December 1976, first class)[39]
• Juvénal Habyarimana (Rwanda, 1978, first class)[40]
• Choi Eun-hee (South Korea, 1983, first class)[41]
• Hosni Mubarak (Egypt, 1983, first class)[42]
• Agatha Barbara (Malta, August 1985, first class)[43]
• Sam Nujoma (Namibia, 1992)[44]
• Fidel Castro (Cuba, 2006, first class)[45]
• Józef Borowiec, former director of the National Center of Education in Płakowice, Poland[46]
• Yakov Novichenko (Soviet Union)[47]
• Alejandro Cao de Benós (Spain)[48]
• Ra Hun, Korean minority activist in Japan (first class, second class, and twice third class)[49]
• Megawati Sukarnoputri (Indonesia, first class)[50]

See also

• Flag of North Korea
• Orders and medals of North Korea

References

Citations

1. Weiser, Martin (8 January 2016). "Chests Full of Brass: A DPRK Political History in Orders, Medals, Prizes, and Titles". Sino-NK. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
2. Minnich, James M. (2005). The North Korean People's Army: Origins and Current Tactics. Naval Institute Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-59114-525-7.
3. "Archived copy" Орден "Национального Флага 3 ст". Znakordena.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "Order of the National Flag". Northkoreanmedals.com. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
5. North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 132.
6. "Korea (North)". Jeanpaulleblanc.com. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
7. Dziak, Waldemar J. (2001). Kim Ir Sen (in Polish). Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Wiedza Powszechna. p. 139. ISBN 83-214-1260-2.
8. Baik Bong (1970). Kim Il Sung Biography: From Building Democratic Korea to Chullima Flight. 2. Tokyo: Miraisha. p. 405. OCLC 630184658.
9. Wit, Jerôme de (2015). Writing Under Wartime Conditions: North and South Korean Writers During the Korean War (1950–1953) (PDF) (Thesis). Leiden University. p. 44. OCLC 900144488. Retrieved 21 April 2016.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
10. 박정애(朴正愛) [Pak Chong-ae]. North Korean Human Geography (in Korean). Seoul: Institute for Peace Affairs. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
11. North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 793.
12. North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 887.
13. North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 850.
14. North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 768.
15. Buzo, Adrian (1999). The Guerilla Dynasty: Politics and Leadership in North Korea. London/New York: I.B.Tauris. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-86064-414-6.
16. North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 802.
17. North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 855.
18. North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 756.
19. North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 886.
20. North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 868.
21. "Jon Pyong Ho" (PDF). Nkleadershipwatch.files.wordpress.com. p. 1. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
22. North Korea Handbook 2002, p. 913.
23. "Chairman Han Duk Su of CHONGRYUN Passes Away". Co.jp. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
24. "Rozstrzelany z broni przeciwlotniczej za... drzemkę. Bo nie okazał szacunku dla Kim Dzong Una". gazeta.pl. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
25. "Senior DPRK official Jo Myong Rok passes away". Chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
26. "Kim Jung Rin Dies". Nkleadershipwatch.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
27. "Kim Rak Hui, Initiator of Plowwoman Movement". KCNA. 20 February 2013. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017.
28. Fehrenbach, T. R. (1 April 2014). This Kind of War: The Classic Military History of the Korean War. Open Road Media. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-4976-0375-2.
29. "Ri Jong Ok passes away". Wayback Machine. KCNA. 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
30. "Szczyt bohaterstwa: narażać życie dla portretów Kim Ir Sena". Newsweek.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 5 August 2010.
31. "Pyongyang University of Music and Dance". Naenara. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
32. "Anniversary of Kigwancha Sports Team Marked in DPRK". Rodong Sinmun. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
33. "Youth Paper Observes Publication of Its 20 000th Issue". KCNA. 6 February 2017. Archived from the original on 24 November 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
34. Sandler, Stanley, ed. (January 1995). The Korean War: An Encyclopedia. New York/London: Taylor & Francis. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-8240-4445-9.
35. Gills 2005, p. 152.
36. Korea-dpr.com. Missing or empty |title= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
37. British Broadcasting Corporation. Monitoring Service (September 1974). "Togolese President's visit to N Korea: co-operation agreement (FE/4701/A5/12)". Summary of World Broadcasts: Far East. Monitoring Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
38. Gills 2005, p. 164.
39. Se-Jin Kim (1979). Korean unification: source materials with an introduction. Research Center for Peace and Unification. p. 95.
40. "Asia". Dtic.mil. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
41. Fischer, Paul (2016). A Kim Jong-Il Production: Kidnap, Torture, Murder... Making Movies North Korean-Style. London: Penguin Books. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-241-97000-3.
42. "Le Président de la République". Sis.gov.eg (in French). Retrieved 10 October 2010.
43. Joseph Bonnici; Michael Cassar (2004). A Chronicle of Twentieth Century Malta. Book distributors limited. p. 430. ISBN 978-99909-72-27-6.
44. Tonchi, Victor L.; Lindeke, William A.; Grotpeter, John J. (31 August 2012). Historical Dictionary of Namibia (Second ed.). Plymouth: Scarecrow Press. p. 306. ISBN 978-0-8108-7990-4.
45. "Kim Jong-il gives Castro a going away present". Rjkoehler.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
46. "Śniły o polskim chlebie i smalcu". Gazetawroclawska.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 5 August 2010.
47. Pʻyŏnghwa Tʻongil Yŏnʾguso (Korea) (1986). Korea & World Affairs. Research Center for Peace and Unification. p. 874.
48. "About this webpage". Korea-dpr.com. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
49. "Obituary". Co.jp. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
50. "Indonesian President Megawati Visits DPRK; Meets Kim Jong Il for 1st Time in 37 Years". Co.jp. Retrieved 8 March 2011.

Works cited

• Gills, Barry (21 June 2005). Korea versus Korea: A Case of Contested Legitimacy. London/New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-76625-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Yonhap News Agency (27 December 2002). North Korea Handbook. Seoul: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-7656-3523-5.