Hwang Pyong-so

Hwang Pyong-so at the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea

Hwang Pyong-so ( 황 병서 ; * around 1952) is a North Korean leadership cadre and Vice Marshal of the North Korean Armed Forces . He is a member of the Central Military Commission of the Labor Party of Korea and was also a member of the National Defense Commission . He was also promoted to First Vice Director of the Labor Party of Korea in March 2014. This made him number two in the North Korean state hierarchy behind Kim Jong-un .

After he was first seen in public for the last time on September 3, 2014, he traveled to South Korea in early October 2014 to hold talks with high-ranking politicians. Most recently, he was one of the high-ranking delegates who represented North Korea in talks with South Korea in order to ease the Korean crisis.

In February 2018, the North Korean state media announced that Hwang had been replaced by Kim Jong-gak as head of the Politburo of the Korean People's Army. According to the South Korean Unification Ministry in December 2018, Hwang was the deputy director of the Organization and Orientation Department of the Labor Party of Korea .

Individual evidence

1. ^ John G. Grisafi: Hwang Pyong So promoted to Vice-Marshal, elevated in Party. Close confidant of Kim Jong Un quickly rising in power and influence. April 28, 2014, accessed October 9, 2014 . 
2. ^ John G. Grisafi: Two high-ranking party members promoted. Ruling party begins expected position shuffling following SPA elections. March 24, 2014, accessed October 9, 2014 . 
3. ↑ Putsch Speculations on North Korea: Kim's Dangerous Comrades. spiegel.de, October 10, 2014.
4. ↑ Colin Zwirko: North Korean leadership shakeups revealed in latest MOU reference book release. In: NK News. December 28, 2018, accessed May 26, 2020 . 

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Hwang is the family name here, Pyong-so is the first name.