Kim Jong Eun Promoted to Marshal

Kim Jong Eun has been promoted to ‘marshal’ of the Chosun People’s Army, according to an ‘important announcement’ made by the North Korean state media at 12PM today.

“The decision was jointly issued on Tuesday by the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the National Defence Commission of the DPRK and the Presidium [Standing Committee] of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK,” KCNA subsequently announced.

The promotion elevates Kim, who was formerly a ‘general’, over the top of the growing number of vice-marshals now in the People’s Army structure, including one promoted yesterday, V. Mar Hyon Yong Chol.

He is one of only two marshals now alive in North Korea. The other is Lee Ul Sol, who received the rank in 1995

Only Kim’s predecessors as leader of North Korea have achieved the higher rank of ‘Grand Marshal’/’Generalissimo’; Kim Il Sung received it in 1992, while Kim Jong Il received it posthumously earlier this year.

Christopher Green is a researcher in Korean Studies based at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Chris has published widely on North Korean political messaging strategies, contemporary South Korean broadcast media, and the socio-politics of Korean peninsula migration. He is the former Manager of International Affairs for Daily NK. His X handle is: @Dest_Pyongyang.