Civil Defense Department
Internal Security and IC Changes
Two major organizational changes to North Korea’s (DPRK) intelligence community and internal security agencies have either begun or in an early phase. The Ministry of State Security has been renamed the National Intelligence Agency […]
Party Congress Drinks Last of the Summer Wine
We are close to the end of the 9th Party Congress. With the election of the 9th Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee we have the first personnel changes effected by the congress. […]
Plenary Personnel
North Korea made a series of personnel changes during the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) 11th plenary session, held December 23-December 27. Although some analyses make far too much of the correlation between personnel and […]
New 1st Vice Chief of the General Staff
Lt. Gen. Jong Myong Do (Cho’ng Myo’ng-to) has been identified as 1st Vice Chief of the Korean People’s Army [KPA] General Staff in two 6 October state media reports on Kim Jong Un’s (KJU; Kim […]
Artillery Company Drills Medium Rang Missiles
The Korean People’s Army [KPA]’s 11th fire assault company participated in a training drill in Changyo’n County, South Hwanghae on 14 March (Tuesday). The drill involved launching two ground-to-ground missiles, identified as the DPRK’s version […]
CMC Holds Meeting
The Workers’ Party of Korea [WPK] Central Military Commission [CMC] met in an enlarged session (or held on an expansion basis) at the WPK Central Committee Office Building on 12 March (Sunday). Technically, this was […]
Gen. O Kuk Ryol (1930-2023)
Gen. O Kuk Ryol (O Kuk-yo’l), a retired former senior national security official and close adviser and friend of late DPRK leader Kim Jong Il (Kim Cho’ng-il), died of heart failure on the morning […]
