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A central figure in North Korea’s strategic weapons program, Ri Pyong Chol, who also serves as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, was recently appointed a marshal of the Korean People’s Army, the highest rank in the army. His elevated status was confirmed during the military parade marking the Party’s Founding Day on October 10, further suggesting that Ri is becoming a very powerful member of the regime.
A source from the Daily NK in North Korea recently speculated that Ri’s rapid rise reflects the regime’s intention to advance the construction and deployment of strategic weapons by developing its military industry despite difficult economic conditions facing the country. . The source also suggested that Ri’s elevated status reaffirms North Korea’s goal of strengthening its defensive military power on the basis of the development of nuclear weapons and missiles.
“Ri is being praised for achieving all planning goals in the military industrial sector despite the severe downturn in the civilian economy this year,” the source told the Daily NK on Monday. “He is gaining recognition for his extensive contributions to strategic weapons research, development and deployment.”
Ri’s elevated status was tangible in the footage from the October 10 military parade released by North Korean media, in which he stood by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s side from start to finish. He showed his presence: When he was not commanding the parade from the front or delivering the final report on the event to Kim, he would laugh and chat with Kim or sometimes even whisper in her ear.
In fact, Ri’s growing authority was evident since late last year. He was elected to the Politburo, the heart of the Workers’ Party, during the Fifth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee in late December. He was also appointed vice president of the Central Military Commission and vice president of the Central Committee.
During the 16th Politburo meeting of the Seventh Central Committee, Ri took his place at the very center of power when he became a member of the Politburo Presidium. His meteoric rise attracted attention when, just before Party Founding Day, he was appointed a marshal during the 19th Politburo Meeting of the Seventh Central Committee, skipping the rank of vice marshal.
“Ri has been tasked with continuing to creatively execute the indomitable will of the Party, that is, the inflexible pillar line of the Party that [the country’s] military industry and nuclear weapons [development] must proceed in parallel, according to trust [endowed by the] Party Center, which has been urging them to prepare faster to cultivate military capabilities for war by developing and producing more nuclear weapons and missiles. “
The source said observers should note the rise of Kim Jong Sik, the deputy director of the Ministry of Machinery-Building Industry, which Ri heads, and the “commander” of the technical department of the army’s Strategic Forces. Kim was one of four high-ranking military cadres promoted on the orders of Kim Jong Un on October 5.
“Kim Jong Sik has contributed to [improving] preparing and preparing the Strategic Forces command for battle through its technical leadership, which has included expanding and increasing the number of Strategic Forces units and deploying weapons – in particular, TEL mobile rockets – in the field on base to its topographic characteristics, ”he said. the fountain. “Its promotion is a compliment that reflects the Party’s stubborn will to use Strategic Forces to develop different types of high-end strategic weapons in the past and in the future as part of efforts to enhance its military capabilities for war.”
Kim is reportedly the figure charged with examining weapons and cultivating the country’s military capabilities for warfare, having assumed the working-level leadership of the Academy of Defense Sciences, which researches and develops strategic weapons, and the Second Economic Committee, which is in charge of arms production. He works at the Ministry of Machinery-Building Industry, but has a military title as commander of the technical department of the Strategic Forces, according to the source.
“They gave him the same rank as his superior, the commander of the Strategic Forces Kim Jong Gil,” the source noted. “Giving him a title equivalent to that of commander of the Strategic Forces is, given normal personnel procedures, an extremely special case that breaks with convention because the commander of the technical department of the Strategic Forces usually has a rank equivalent to that of lieutenant general” .
Ultimately, the sudden rise of Ri and Kim seems to further clarify the Workers’ Party’s military policy of preparing for modern warfare through research, development, and deployment of strategic weapons such as nuclear weapons and missiles.
The source also noted what he called the exceptional promotion of Pak Jong Chon, who was awarded the title of marshal along with Ri. “This is the first time that the chief of staff of the Army General Staff Department has received the same military rank than that of Supreme Commander, ”he said.
“The promotion follows the praise that in the exercises of contrary force inspected by the Supreme Commander [Kim Jong Un] at the beginning of this year, with the participation of artillery and other general military units, the preparation for battle of all the units met the standards of the Supreme Command, ”added the source.
After being appointed chief of staff to the General Staff Department in September last year, Pak was named a marshal in May, just five months after being elevated to vice marshal. The source suggested that raising his status was aimed at strengthening his authority to boost morale within the military, as he took an active role in recovery efforts after the recent typhoons.
“Despite the fact that the phrase used in the past – political in the first place military – has disappeared, the reality is that the [same] The political method of burdening the military with everything from defense of the homeland to socialist construction, and even disaster recovery, must continue, ”said the source.
“In that sense, appointing Pak Marshal is also an opportunity for the military to really boost efforts to stabilize people’s lives and restore the civilian economy in areas [damaged by the typhoons] making them create new miracles and new innovations ”, he also speculated.
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