{"id":27421,"date":"2014-06-12T20:55:23","date_gmt":"2014-06-12T11:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.dailynk.com\/en\/?p=27421"},"modified":"2026-04-05T12:42:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T03:42:45","slug":"an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/","title":{"rendered":"An Exception to the Rules of Kimism"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

North Korea is generally perceived as a one-man dictatorship, in which the whole state structure centers around the ruling members
\nof the Kim clan to the exclusion of all others.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

This is true to a very large extent. There is, however, one exception. Choe Yong Gon, one of Kim Il Sung\u2019s closest
\nfriends for more than a decade, was not only once the most powerful man in the
\ncountry after Kim Il Sung himself, but also maintained a micro-personality cult
\nof his own, with his portrait shown on placards held up during national
\nholiday marches.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Choe
\nYong Gon was a key member of Kim Il Sung\u2019s partisan guerrilla unit fighting in the
\nImperial Japanese state of Manchukuo, and, like most of his comrades, carved out
\na career for himself in post-colonial North Korea. In 1946 he was appointed chair
\nof the Democratic Party of northern Korea after the party\u2019s previous leader,
\nCho Man Sik, was put under house arrest for his reluctance to cooperate with
\nthe Communists. Choe played an instrumental role in turning the party into a
\npowerless organisation under the complete control of the ruling Chosun Workers\u2019
\nParty. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nSoviets wished to maintain the illusion of a real multi-party system in North
\nKorea, and so Choe\u2019s formal position then propelled him to the role of Commander-in-Chief
\nwhen the Chosun People\u2019s Army was created in February 1948. He was also appointed
\nMinister of National Defense upon the creation of the first Cabinet under Kim
\nIl Sung. Choe stood down as Commander-in-Chief in favour of Kim at the
\nbeginning of the Korean War, justifying the decision on the basis that in times
\nof war a country should have only one leader. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout
\nthe Korean War, the <\/span>North Korean
\narmed forces did not have military ranks. Instead they were supplemented by
\nmilitary positions, meaning that a company commanding officer was to be addressed
\nas \u201ccomrade company commander,\u201d rather than \u201ccomrade captain.\u201d The highest rank
\nwas the Minister of National Defense, a position held by Choe. A similar
\nquasi-rank system existed in the early USSR but was abolished in the late 1930s
\n<\/span>in favour of a more traditional one<\/span>. We still do not know, and probably never
\nwill, exactly why the Soviets decided that the Korean system should be based on
\ntheir old ranking system rather than the one in use at the time. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Ideology
\nmay be one possible reason. As the Korean War reached a stalemate, the North
\nKorean authorities tried to compensate for an apparent lack of military success
\nby intensifying propaganda. One of its major propaganda events featured Kim Il
\nSung\u2019s promotion to the rank of Marshal on February 7th<\/span>, 1953. For several
\nweeks Rodong Sinmun published articles describing people overwhelmed with joy at
\nKim\u2019s promotion. Thus, it cannot be ruled out that the lone major reason for the
\nintroduction of military ranks was to promote Kim Il Sung to Marshal, thereby formally
\nplacing him at the top of the military hierarchy not only by virtue of position,
\nbut also of rank. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

That
\nday, Choe also received a promotion. He became a Vice-Marshal, a rank
\nthat did not even exist elsewhere in the socialist world. An Executive Order
\nat the time hailed him for his military exploits. Choe is the only non-member of the
\nKim family to have been the subject of such an order; in the years to come, promotion
\norders did not carry any details at all.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Below is the English translation of the
\norder, which uses North Korea\u2019s formal name, the Democratic People\u2019s Republic
\nof Korea:<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The
\nExecutive order of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People\u2019s Assembly of
\nthe Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

On
\nbestowing the rank of the Vice-Marshal of the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of
\nKorea to the respected comrade Choe Yong Gon, Minister of  National Defence.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the
\ncreation of the glorious Korean People\u2019s Army, the Supreme People\u2019s Assembly of
\nthe Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea bestows the rank of the Vice-Marshal
\nof the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea to the respected comrade Choe Yong
\nGon, Minister of National Defense, who has strengthened the armed forces of the
\nKorean people – the Korean People\u2019s Army, being a skilful commander in the
\nrighteous War for the Liberation of the Fatherland against the American and
\nBritish aggressors, and has distinguished himself with merit due the People\u2019s
\nArmy brilliant wartime accomplishments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the
\nSupreme People\u2019s Assembly of the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea Kim Tu Bong<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

General Secretary of the Standing Committee
\nof the Supreme People\u2019s Assembly of the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea
\nKim Ryang Uk<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

February 7th, 1953.
\nPyongyang <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A
\ncollection of Soviet documents sourced by Professor Andrei Lankov in the early
\n1990s provides additional insight. As shown below, the insignia for both Vice-Marshal
\nand Marshal were of unique design, and different from the insignia for
\nhigh-ranking officers within the Soviet Union.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The insignia of a Vice-Marshal (L) and Marshal (R).
| Image: Wikicommons<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The
\ninsignia themselves were made in the USSR. The North Korean Ministry of Foreign
\nAffairs addresse<\/span>d its Soviet counterpart with a request to supply the following: <\/span>Marshal rank insignia (6); Vice-Marshal rank insignia
\n(6); Marshal’s star (3); golden thread (17km); Marshal<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s hat gear (3); and a mark featuring the coat
\nof arms to be attached to a Marshal<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s
\nhat (3).<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One may
\nsurmise that North Korea did not even possess the necessary
\nsewing and embroidery technologies to complete the above items, and was forced to ask \u201cthe Soviet brothers\u201d
\nfor help.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Over the
\nnext four years, Choe was clearly Kim Il Sung\u2019s second-in-command,
\nkeeping both his rank and his position. Not only did he sign military decrees, including
\na decree to grant a rank to a defector from the South Korean military, but on
\nsome occasions, for instance the May Day demonstration in Pyongyang in 1956,
\nhis portrait appeared next to that of Kim Il Sung. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

However,
\nthings had changed by 1957. On August 15th<\/span> of that year, Choe Yong
\nGon\u2019s rank was mentioned for the last time. The next month, Kim Il Sung removed
\nhim from his position as Minister of National Defense and instead appointed him
\nto the ceremonial position of chair of the Standing Committee of the Supreme
\nPeople\u2019s Assembly (SPA). Choe Yong Gon thus found himself stripped of all his
\npower. His duties were to meet with foreign delegations, smile, give speeches
\nand to preside over SPA sessions during which decisions, made unanimously and
\nalways with thunderous applause, had already been pre-approved by the Workers\u2019
\nParty.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Choe\u2019s
\nrank and former position as<\/span> Commander-in-Chief of the KPA (which, as readers will recall, he occupied
\nfrom 1948 to 1950) was never to be mentioned again in North Korean publications, not even in his obituary in 1976. Any mention of a person other than Kim Il
\nSung at the top of North Korean military would have raised uncomfortable
\nquestions. However, the loss of rank was another story since Choe Yong Gon\u2019s
\nrank was clearly inferior to that of Kim Il Sung. There was no particular
\nideological need for it. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Let us
\nlook at the historical context. The year 1957 was a year of purges. Kim Il Sung
\ndid away with both the pro-Chinese and pro-Soviet factionalists who had unsuccessfully
\ntried to remove him from power in August 1956. Choe Yong Gon was not one of
\nthem. Indeed, the conspirators thought to recruit him to their ranks. Nevertheless,
\nChoe not only spurned their request, but stood out as one of the most vigorous
\nsupporters of Kim Il Sung during the August Incident.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Choe\u2019s semi-purge is
\ncertainly odd, therefore, and still perplexing half a century after the fact.
\nOn the one hand, it shows just how perilous one\u2019s position is under a
\ndictatorship, even for a powerful statesman like Choe. On the other hand, the
\nKim Il Sung approach of simply removing opponents from power was more humane
\nand far more effective over the long-term than that of Stalin, who typically
\nordered executions. Indeed, this approach may be one of the reasons why Stalin
\nwas officially denounced by the Soviet leadership less than three years after
\nhis death, while the Kim family dynasty still rules over North Korea.<\/span> <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

* The views expressed in Guest Columns do not necessarily reflect those of Daily NK.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North Korea is generally perceived as a one-man dictatorship, in which the whole state structure centers around the ruling members of the Kim clan to the exclusion of all others. This is true to a very large extent. There is, however, one exception. Choe Yong Gon, one of Kim Il Sung\u2019s closest friends for more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":27423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[644],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-analysis-and-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Exception to the Rules of Kimism - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Exception to the Rules of Kimism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"North Korea is generally perceived as a one-man dictatorship, in which the whole state structure centers around the ruling members of the Kim clan to the exclusion of all others. This is true to a very large extent. There is, however, one exception. 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Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.\",\"email\":\"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net\",\"telephone\":\"82-2-732-6998\",\"legalName\":\"DailyNK\",\"foundingDate\":\"2004-12-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"1\",\"maxValue\":\"10\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/04590bc15c697ec9ef17b3bebd5f3f31\",\"name\":\"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Fyodor-Tertitskiy-150x150.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Fyodor-Tertitskiy-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Fyodor-Tertitskiy-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University\"},\"description\":\"Fyodor Tertitskiy is Leading Researcher at the Institute for Korean Studies at Kookmin University, South Korea. He studies North Korean military, social and political history and is the author of The North Korean Army: History, Structure, Daily Life (2022) and several Korean-language books on Kim Il-sung\u00a0and\u00a0his\u00a0era.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/fyodor-tertiskiy\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Exception to the Rules of Kimism - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Exception to the Rules of Kimism","og_description":"North Korea is generally perceived as a one-man dictatorship, in which the whole state structure centers around the ruling members of the Kim clan to the exclusion of all others. This is true to a very large extent. There is, however, one exception. Choe Yong Gon, one of Kim Il Sung\u2019s closest friends for more […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2014-06-12T11:55:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-05T03:42:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":140,"height":93,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/06\/DNKF00011962_List.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/"},"author":{"name":"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/04590bc15c697ec9ef17b3bebd5f3f31"},"headline":"An Exception to the Rules of Kimism","datePublished":"2014-06-12T11:55:23+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T03:42:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/"},"wordCount":1413,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/06\/DNKF00011962_List.jpg","articleSection":["Analysis & Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/","name":"An Exception to the Rules of Kimism - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/06\/DNKF00011962_List.jpg","datePublished":"2014-06-12T11:55:23+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T03:42:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/06\/DNKF00011962_List.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/06\/DNKF00011962_List.jpg","width":140,"height":93},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/an-exception-to-the-rules-of-kimis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Exception to the Rules of Kimism"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/","name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization","name":"Daily NK English","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/top_logo@1x.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/top_logo@1x.png","width":272,"height":90,"caption":"Daily NK English"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"description":"An independent online news organization based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on internal North Korean affairs through a network of in-country sources and defector journalists. 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