Following the sweeping personnel changes
that occurred within North Korea\u2019s central governing bodies during the 7th
Worker\u2019s Party Congress, considerable speculation (particularly in the South
Korean media) has focused on who could now be considered as Kim Jong Un\u2019s de
facto second-in-command.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Choe Ryong Hae, the son of famed guerrilla These new appointments, coupled with the However, the turmoil plaguing Choe Ryong This type of predicament and the Jo Yong Won, the vice department director
revolutionary Choe Hyun (who fought in Manchuria during the Kim Il Sung era),
rose to prominence under Kim Jong Il, ostensibly to facilitate Kim Jong Un\u2019s
succession after his own death. The recent congress saw Choe Ryong Hae
reinstated as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the
Central Committee of the WPK and promoted to vice chairman of the newly-created
Bureau of Political Affairs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n
significance of his name appearing first on the roll call, appear to support
arguments claiming that he is the new \u201cnumber two.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Hae\u2019s time under Kim Jong Un\u2019s rule, most recently illustrated by his dispatch
to a collective farm to undergo \u201crevolutionary education\u201d for alleged
wrongdoing, suggests that his authority may be more limited than it appears .<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n
ever-present risk of sudden obsolescence is common to monolithic leadership
systems. Although the Choe family has historical significance to the Kim
dynasty, his level of authority will be confined to predetermined limits. Other
Party colleagues have repeatedly borne witness to his meteoric rises and
precipitous falls.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n
of the WPK Central Committee, has also caught the attention of the press.
Citing his roles in close proximity to Kim Jong Un throughout the entirety of
the Congress proceedings (such as note-taking and receiving orders), some have
speculated that he has risen up in the ranks. However, the simplest assumption
is that he was tasked with the planning and organization of the Congress, and
further conclusions should not be drawn without evidence to the contrary.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n