Col. Gen. Han Sun Chol

Col. Gen. Han Sun Chol

Han Sun Chol (Han Son-ch’o’l) is director of the Central Committee Guard Office (CCGO).  Han is also a member of the Workers’ Party of Korea [WPK] Central Committee, elected during the 8th Party Congress in 2021.  Han was promoted to Colonel General in May 2020.  In his current position leads the personnel which forms the close security escort for Kim Jong Un (KJU; Kim Cho’ng-u’n).  Col. Gen. Han is a former Guard Command division commander.

The CCGO forms the immediate bodyguard ring around KJU and has also been known as Central Committee Office #6 and, when late DPRK leader Kim Jong Il (Kim Cho’ng-il) was alive known under a supernumerary using his date of birth as the 2.16 Squad.   The CCGO was differentiated from the Guard Command in 2020.  KJU appeared to beta-test the CCGO as an organization in 2020 before spinning it off the Guard Command as its own independent protective service in 2023 under Col. Gen. Han’s leadership and KJU’s direct control.

Close security escorts of the Central Committee Guard Department form a protective ring around Kim Jong Un during his visit to the National Defense University in Pyongyang in September 2024 (Photo: KCNA).