On April 20, 1992 Kim Jong Il was promoted to his first military rank – that of marshal of the DPRK. The next day, on April 21, Rodong Sinmun published the government decree to this effect on the first page. That however, was not the only promotion that took place. On the same day, O Chin U, Minister of the People’s Armed Forces, was promoted to marshal of the DPRK – a truly unique event, since no one else in North Korean history shared a rank with a Kim after the latter was formally anointed as a successor.

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