Hyon Yong-chol

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Korean spelling
Chosŏn'gŭl 현영 철
Hancha 玄 永 哲
Revised
Romanization
Hyeon Yeong-cheol
McCune-
Reischauer
Hyŏn Yŏngch'ŏl

Hyon Yong-chol (born January 11, 1949 in Ŏrang-gun, Hamgyŏng-pukto province ; † April 30, 2015 (?)) Was a North Korean military officer and defense minister . He served as Vice Marshal from July 17, 2012 to October 2012 . In October 2012 he was demoted to Army General (4 stars), again in June 2013 to Colonel General (3 stars) and a year later in June 2014 as part of his appointment as Defense Minister he was promoted back to Army General.

Hyon Yong-chol was named chief of staff after Ri Yong-ho's dismissal in 2012. On May 22, 2013, it was announced that Kim Kyok-sik was again Chief of Staff, who had held this post from 2007 to 2009 before he was replaced by Ri Yong-ho. In June 2014, Hyon Yong-chol became North Korean Minister of Defense.

According to the South Korean secret service NIS , he was executed on April 30, 2015 for "infidelity and disrespect" to North Korea's head of state Kim Jong-un . However, this conclusion was relativized as a mere possibility by the same service just one day later. According to an unnamed Chinese source cited by the South Korean news broadcaster YTN, the official confirmation of the execution of Hyon Yong-chol was reported to have been sent to the governments of the respective states by North Korean embassies in mid-June 2015 . Nevertheless, some evidence continues to fuel doubts as to whether the reported execution in the case of Hyons actually took place at the end of April 2015, or whether only an impeachment.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b James E. Hoare: Historical Dictionary of Democratic People's Republic of Korea , Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 2 edition, Landham (US-MD) 2019, ISBN 978-1538119730 , p. 247
  2. BBC : N Korea names new vice-marshal in military reshuffle. Retrieved July 17, 2012 .
  3. Xinhua : DPRK awards Hyon Yong Chol title of KPA vice marshal. Retrieved July 17, 2012 .
  4. CNN : North Korea promotes military official to key rank after removing army chief. Retrieved July 17, 2012 .
  5. ^ Spiegel Online : North Korea names new Vice-Marshal. Retrieved July 17, 2012 .
  6. Die Welt : Was there an assassination attempt on dictator Kim Jong-un? Retrieved May 22, 2013 .
  7. DPRK appoints new chief of army general staff on china.org.cn from July 19, 2012 (English).
  8. Kim names hardliner army chief . Spiegel Online from May 22, 2013.
  9. North Korea: Kim apparently has defense ministers executed . Spiegel Online from May 13, 2015.
  10. ^ North Korea Defense Chief Hyon Yong-chol 'executed'. BBC News, May 13, 2015, accessed May 13, 2015 .
  11. South Korea relativizes information on the execution of North Korean ministers. Zeit Online, May 14, 2015, accessed May 19, 2015 .
  12. ^ UPI: North Korea officially confirms Hyon Yong Chol's execution . United Press International , accessed June 27, 2015