O Kŭng-nyŏl

Korean spelling
Chosŏn'gŭl	오극렬
Hancha	吴克烈
Revised Romanization	O Geung-nyeol
McCune- Reischauer	O Kŭngnyŏl
See also : Korean name

O Kŭng-nyŏl (* 1931 in Jilin , China ) is a North Korean military and politician.

O Kŭng-nyŏl studied at the Mangyŏngdae Revolutionary Academy as one of the first students as well as at the Kim-Il-sung University in Pyongyang and the Frunze Naval Academy in Leningrad ( Soviet Union ).

He is the son of O Jung-song , who fought for Chōsen's independence from Japan on the side of the later North Korean dictator Kim Il-sung in the last years of World War II . As a toddler, O Kŭng-nyŏl met Kim Il-sung's son and President Kim Jong-il , who died in 2011 , which is why he is regarded as his close confidante.

O Kŭng-nyŏl took part in the Korean War (1950–1953) as a lieutenant . O began his further military career as major general and rector of the North Korean Air Force Academy. In 1967 he became lieutenant general and air force commander. In 1970 he became a member of the Supreme People's Assembly and in 1977 Vice Chief of Staff of the Korean People's Army .

O Kŭng-nyŏl's rise to the top ranks of the North Korean dictatorship was completed in 1979 when he became Chief of Staff of the Army. Differences of opinion with the then Defense Minister O Jin-u forced him to withdraw temporarily from the military elite. In 1980 he was appointed Colonel General and a member of the Central Committee of the Labor Party of Korea . In 1985 he was promoted to general. In 1988 O Kŭng-nyŏl had to give up all party offices, but returned to the political stage just a year later as chairman of the defense committee and head of strategy of the party. Today he is Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission and is an expert on relations with South Korea .

O Kŭng-nyŏl is married with five daughters and one son. In addition to Korean, he also speaks English , Russian and Chinese .

Web links

• Profile on the website of the South Korean Broadcasting Corporation ( KBS )

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. O is the family name here, Kŭng-nyŏl is the first name.