Kwak Chang Sik

Col. Gen. Kwak Chank Sik (right) at construction work in North P’yo’ngan in 2024 (Photo: KCNA).

Colonel General Kwak Chang Sik (Kwak Ch’ang-sik) is director of the Guard Command.  He is also a member of the Workers’ Party of Korea [WPK] Central Committee and deputy to the Supreme People’s Assembly [SPA].

Kwak served as the Guard Command’s Vice Chief of Staff.  He was elected an alternate (candidate) member of the WPK Central Committee during the 7th Party Congress in 2016.  Col. Gen. Kwak was formally elevated to director of the Guard Command in 2019, replacing Gen. Yun Jong Rin (Yun Cho’ng-rin).  He was also elected to the SPA during the same year.  Kwak was upgraded to full member status on the WPK Central Committee at the 8th Party Congress in 2021.

Col. Gen. Kwak assumed the Guard Command directorate during a reorganization of the units which provide the close security escort, logistical and household needs of the Kim Family and North Korea’s core leadership.  In 2024, he led flood reconstruction and recovery work in North P’yo’ngan Province.