Gen. No Kwang Chol (No Kwang-ch’o’l) was appointed Minister of National Defense during the 11th session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly [SPA] held 7-8 October (Monday and Tuesday). He replaces Gen. Kang Sun Nam (Kang Sun-nam) who has held the position since around December 2022. Gen. No previously served as defense minister for about 18 months from June 2018 to December 2019. Gen. No attracted international media attention in 2018 when he saluted former US President Donald J. Trump during an interaction at the US-DPRK Singapore Summit. No also signed off on the inter-Korea defense agreement during the Pyongyang Summit in 2018.
Mun Kyong Dok (2nd left) visits a DPRK athlete’s new apartment in 2013. Also in attendance, at the left, is current Minister of the People’s Armed Forces No Kwang Chol (Photo: NK Leadership Watch file photo).
No Kwang Chol is about 65 years old. He has held a number of senior positions in the regime including Chairman of the Second Economy Commission and Vice Minister of National Defense (f/k/a MPAF). Following his 2019 dismissal from his first hitch as Minister, No has remained a second-tier senior Korean People’s Army [KPA] official, reportedly heading a research institute under the KPA General Staff and has been observed attending leadership gatherings including expanded meetings of the Party Central Military Commission [CMC].
Gen. No’s appointment during the SPA session marks another personnel shift in the KPA High Command following the appointment of Lt. Gen. Jong Myong Do (Cho’ng Myo’ng-to) as 1st Vice Chief of the KPA General Staff. There are three speculative reasons for his return to the top. First, as a former SEC Chairman he is directly tied to ongoing military modernization efforts in the KPA. Second, in contrast to his predecessor, No has more experience interacting with (and saluting) foreign interlocutors. Finally, he is part of a big picture/little picture personnel dynamic whereby KJU places an elite in a senior position (big picture) then rotated out to a second- or third-tier position (little picture). This is a modification to how late DPRK leader Kim Jong Il managed KPA general-grade officers whereby they routinely moved between high command and field command posts.