O Il-jong ([오일정] Error: {{Langx}}: invalid parameter: |context= (help), born 1954) is a North Korean politician and four-star general (대장) of the Korean People's Army.

O Il-jong
Director of the CC Military Department
LeaderKim Jong Un
Supreme LeaderKim Jong Il
Personal details
Born1954 (age 69–70)
Pyongyang, North Korea
CitizenshipNorth Korean
NationalityKorean
Political partyWorkers' Party of Korea
Parent
Alma materKim Il Sung University
Kim Il Sung Military University
Military service
Allegiance North Korea
Branch/service Korean People's Army
Rank General
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
오일정
Hancha
吳日正、[1]
Revised RomanizationO Iljeong
McCune–ReischauerO Ilchŏng

Biography

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O Il-jong was born in 1954 in Pyongyang.[2] A graduate of economics at the Kim Il Sung University and Kim Il Sung Military University (he graduated from the academy only in the 90s). He is the third son of O Jin-u, the Minister of the Defense of the North Korea who died in 1995, who for years was one of Kim Il Sung's closest associates and one of the most important figures in the North Korean political system.

In the 1980s, O Il-jong worked in diplomacy, he was the military attaché of the DPRK embassy in Egypt. Then, from 1985, he worked at a state-owned foreign trade company. In 1989 he became the commander of the regiment and then a brigade. He received the general nomination for the rank of major-general (소장) in April 1992. From November 1994 he was the commander of the 26th Division in the 4th Corps of the Korean People's Army.

During the 3rd Conference of the Workers' Party of Korea on September 28, 2010, he was appointed director of the Military Department of the WPK Central Committee, (replacing Kim Song-gyu), was promoted to a two-star Major-General, and was also a member of the Central Committee for the first time. In April 2011 he was promoted to the rank of colonel general.

After the death of Kim Jong Il in December 2011, O Il-jong found himself on the high, 40th place in the 232-person Funeral Committee.[3]

Around the end of 2019 at the 5th plenary of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, he was believed to have replaced Choe Pu-il as the director of the Military Department.[4] On 10 January 2021, O Il-jong was elected as a member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea.[5]

He was promoted to a four star general on 14 April 2022, by order of Kim Jong Un.[6]

References

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  1. ^ 오일정 (吳日晶)O Il Jong. Archived from the original on 2021-05-08. Retrieved 2023-09-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ a b 오일정(남성)). 북한정보포털 (in Korean). 통일부. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  3. ^ "KJI Funeral Rankings comparison" (XLSX). NK News. December 2011. Ranking. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  4. ^ 북한정보포털 | 북한 지식사전(2021). nkinfo.unikorea.go.kr. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  5. ^ 민주조선 | 조선민주주의인민공화국 최고인민회의 상임위원회 및 내각기관지. minzu.rep.kp. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  6. ^ 민주조선 | 조선민주주의인민공화국 최고인민회의 상임위원회 및 내각기관지. minzu.rep.kp. Retrieved 2024-05-25.