North Korean leader Kim Jong Un kneels while laying a flower at the grave of late army marshal Hyon Chol Hae | Image: KCNA (May 20, 2023)
North Korea held a large-scale commemorative event for late military official Hyon Chol Hae on Friday, and for analysts like myself, the spectacle presented in state media was nothing short of astounding.
Photos published in the Rodong Sinmun on Saturday showed a grand hall adorned with a portrait of Hyon positioned on the stage — an honor typically reserved exclusively for members of the Kim family. State TV later aired a 39-minute video of the event.
But even more significantly, the front page showed Kim Jong Un kneeling before Hyon’s grave. This unprecedented act marks a notable departure for North Korea, as it appears to be the first time that state media has shown the Supreme Leader kneeling before anything or anyone.
Hyon also received a large state funeral in Pyongyang when he died last year, despite an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak at the time, and state TV aired a documentary on Kim and Hyon’s relationship that said the DPRK leader was with Hyon when he died.
But who exactly was Hyon Chol Hae, and why has the state bestowed him with such extraordinary posthumous honors?
As I explore in my recent book on the North Korean army, Hyon Chol Hae dedicated his entire career to serving as a guard for the Kim family, and he appears to have played a key role in overseeing Kim Jong Un’s rise to power.
But Hyon’s loyalty to the current leader is likely not the only reason he has received so much praise, as Kim makes paying tribute to elderly and deceased comrades a major pillar of his propaganda strategy.
THE BODYGUARD
Born in 1934, Hyon joined Kim Il Sung’s bodyguard platoon as a teenager, while the Korean War was still raging. During this period, he crossed paths with Kim Il Sung’s son, Kim Jong Il, and the two became friends.
Over the following decades, Hyon Chol Hae steadily climbed the ranks of authority. By the time of Kim Il Sung’s death in 1994, he had become a member of the Central Committee, signaling his promotion to the top elite, and held the esteemed position of colonel general.
Hyon continued to prosper under the leadership of Kim Jong Il, achieving the rank of full general in 1995, and even his nephew Hyon Song-il’s defection to South Korea in the mid-1990s did not interrupt his career.
Hyon would make an impressive number of joint appearances with the leader in 2008, and there have been reports that Kim Jong Il, already a seriously ill man at the time, entrusted Hyon with the crucial task of providing a military education for his son, Kim Jong Un.
Hyon reportedly spared no effort in ensuring that Kim Jong Un would be the one to inherit the throne. The frequency of his joint appearances with the leader’s son in 2008 lends credence to these claims, as the campaign for Kim Jong Un’s succession began soon after in Jan. 2009.
After Kim Jong Un rose to power, Hyon Chol Hae enjoyed even more career success. In 2012, he became a vice marshal, and within a remarkably short span of four years, he was named a Korean People’s Army (KPA) marshal, the highest military rank after the leader himself. Hyon was not in active military service during this time, so his promotion was symbolic, serving as a gesture of gratitude from Kim Jong Un.
North Korean defectors who knew Hyon Chol Hae personally have told this author that he was a composed individual devoid of a thirst for power. Undoubtedly, these traits played a significant role in his remarkable success.
Within the DPRK, serving as the leader’s chief guard is valuable for career advancement. This is exemplified by the fact that two other marshals in North Korea’s history served as guards in earlier stages of their careers: Lee Ul Sol, who also received a grand, high-profile funeral under Kim Jong Un; and Kim Jong Il himself, as evidenced by Soviet documents from the 1960s that indicate his service as his father’s guard.
This phenomenon sets the DPRK apart from the other communist states. Neither Stalin’s chief guard Nikolay Vlasik, Mao’s Wang Dongxing or Ceausescu’s Dumitru Burlan managed to become as prominent as these three North Koreans.
THE COMMEMORATION
Kim Jong Un undoubtedly orchestrated the commemoration for Hyon Chol Hae on Friday, as there is no established tradition dictating that North Korea hold such an event.
During Kim Il Sung’s initial years in power, he had to adhere to the Soviet model, which regarded all members of the Politburo as significant figures. Following the passing of vice defense minister Kim Chaek in 1951, for instance, the state renamed the city of Songjin in his honor.
However, once Kim Il Sung broke free from Moscow’s control, he no longer felt obligated to extol the virtues of recently deceased comrades. The creation of the pantheon of “anti-Japanese partisans” after 1967 included individuals who had died years earlier, such as O Jung Hup (died 1939) or Kang Gon (died 1950).
And while the state held funerals for Kim’s closest confidants like Kim Il or Lim Chun Chu, it did not hold commemorative events like the recent one for Hyon Chol Hae.
Kim Jong Il had his own way of expressing grief and respect for a deceased comrade: He would keep the position they had occupied vacant for a few months.
For instance, after O Jin U, minister of the People’s Armed Forces, passed away in Feb. 1995, his successor Choe Gwang was not appointed until October. Similarly, following Choe’s own demise in Feb. 1997, his successor Kim Il Chol did not assume the position until September.
All these tributes and commemorations, however, pale in comparison to the grand scale of the latest event for Hyon Chol Hae.
Contrary to expectations, Kim Jong Un appears to hold a deeper respect for the old guard compared to his father or grandfather. This may seem counterintuitive, as one might assume that a young prince who inherited the throne at a young age would behave like a spoiled brat.
But Kim has defied this stereotype entirely. Not only did he demonstrate unwavering respect for figures like Lee Ul Sol and Hyon Chol Hae upon their passing, but he also acknowledged the “old revolutionaries” who have passed away since the previous event in his speech at the Seventh Party Congress, a departure from the practices of his grandfather.
Additionally, Kim has exhibited reverence toward elderly military veterans during organized events in Pyongyang, like during a Korean War anniversary event last year.
It’s obvious that Hyon Chol Hae was a dear figure to Kim Jong Un, likely because played a key role in his rise to power. But the latest commemoration is also about more than just Hyon, demonstrating a respect for former comrades that has been a key characteristic of Kim’s rule.
This may be the leader’s attempt to present himself as the one carrying on their legacy, though for now, we don’t have enough information to draw a definitive conclusion.
North Korea held a large-scale commemorative event for late military official Hyon Chol Hae on Friday, and for analysts like myself, the spectacle presented in state media was nothing short of astounding.
Photos published in the Rodong Sinmun on Saturday showed a grand hall adorned with a portrait of Hyon positioned on the stage — an honor typically reserved exclusively for members of the Kim family. State TV later aired a 39-minute video of the event.
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Fyodor Tertitskiy is a leading researcher at Seoul’s Kookmin University. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Seoul National University and is the author of several books on North Korean history and military in English and Korean.