Choe Hyon
North Korean general and anti-Japanese guerrilla leader.
via Wikipedia: Choe Hyon · see source
Choe Hyon (6 May 1907 – 10 April 1982), also known as Sai Ken, was a North Korean general and politician. Born in China to ethnic Korean parents, he fought in the anti-Japanese struggle from a young age and became one of the most important military leaders of the armed resistance in Manchuria. He led troops in the Battle of Pochonbo, a victory later attributed to Kim Il Sung in North Korean propaganda. After the liberation of Korea, the guerrillas chose Kim among themselves to be the leader of North Korea, even though Choe was his senior and had a higher rank in the Chinese Communist Party. Choe later served as Minister of People's Armed Forces from 1968 until 1976.
Quick Facts
- Office
- Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission
- Took office
- 28 December 1972
- Left office
- 10 April 1982
- Alongside
- O Jin-u and O Paek-ryong
- Predecessor
- Kim Chang-bong
- Successor
- O Jin-u
- Born
- 6 May 1907
- Birthplace
- Hunchun, Jilin, China
Facts from the source article.
Early life
Choe Hyon entered the world on 6 May 1907 in Hunchun, Jilin, China. His father, Choe Hwa-shim, had fought with the Hong Beom-do Unit of the Korean Independence Army in the early 1900s. His mother is believed to have died in 1920, following Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in response to the March 1st Movement. This background gave Choe a strong revolutionary pedigree. In 1925, Japanese authorities arrested him and held him in a Yanji prison for seven years. Once freed in July 1932, after Japan had taken over Manchuria, he joined the anti-Japanese guerrilla movement. Choe climbed to a command role in the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army and became a member of the Chinese Communist Party. When the United Army withdrew to the Soviet Union, he served in the Soviet 88th Brigade. The 1937 Battle of Pochonbo is central to North Korea’s cult of Kim Il Sung, but some accounts suggest Choe Hyon, not Kim, led the raid. He is also said to have commanded forces at Musan and Gansanbong. Starting in 1939, his army became a primary Japanese target during the Pacification of Manchukuo. Choe was a close comrade of Kim Il Sung during the guerrilla years. Because Choe was older, he did not use honorifics when speaking to Kim—though Kim Il Sung’s autobiography claims this was done at Kim’s own request.
Career after the liberation of Korea
After the liberation of Korea, Choe was brought into North Korean politics as part of the Guerrilla faction, a group of about 200 ex-guerrillas. The top guerrillas, including Kim Il Sung, Kim Chaek, Kim Il, Choe Yong-gon, and Choe Hyon, agreed among themselves to promote Kim Il Sung as the leader just before returning to Korea in September 1945, despite Kim Chaek and Choe Hyon being higher-ranking members in the Chinese Communist Party. Choe became commander of the Kanggye Regiment of the 1st Division in the newly organized Korean People's Army, a regiment of strategic importance due to its location in Kanggye. He also led the Military Liberation College that trained special forces, commanded the 2nd Division, and during the Korean War commanded the II Corps. After the war, Choe became a member of the 3rd Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in 1956. He rose in party ranks in the late 1960s at a spectacular rate, having been chairman of the party's Military Affairs Commission since 1965, and was appointed to the Political Committee as a full member in October 1966, skipping the alternate stage. In the late 1960s–early 1970s, Choe was one of the most powerful individuals in North Korean politics and military, and as Minister of People's Armed Forces he was probably the most powerful individual in the military area other than Kim Il Sung himself. Choe lived in the high-end neighborhood of Changkwang-dong, near Kim Il Sung's mansion.
Death and legacy
Choe published an autobiography, Over the Mountain-Waves of Mt. Paektu. A meeting with Choe inspired the poet Cho Ki-chon to write his epic poem, Mt. Paektu, in 1947 about the Battle of Pochonbo, which became a foundational work of Kim Il Sung's cult of personality. Choe died on 10 April 1982. The 30th anniversary of his death in 2012 was marked prominently in North Korea, with a memorial service, wreaths laid at the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery, and a Korean Central News Agency article praising him. This occurred as his son Choe Ryong-hae rose in the ranks of the Workers' Party of Korea. Choe held the title of Hero of the Republic, and the Choe Hyon-class destroyer ship class is named after him.
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