North Korea Leadership Watch

Research and Analysis on the DPRK Leadership

Ri Il Hwan, where you at?

Workers’ Party of Korea [WPK] Secretary Ri Il Hwan (Ri Il-hwan) has not appeared at public events or state media in about four weeks.  This is not necessarily a lengthy absence for a North Korean […]

Feb, 12

Plenary Personnel

North Korea made a series of personnel changes during the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) 11th plenary session, held December 23-December 27.  Although some analyses make far too much of the correlation between personnel and […]

Jan, 04

Kim Ki Nam Funeral Committee

Kim Ki Nam, former DPRK propaganda and culture chieftain, passed away due to old age and chronic health (“decrepitude and multiple organ dysfunction,” according to KCNA) at the age of 94 in Pyongyang on 7 […]

May, 08

KJU Hosts Dinner for Navy Day (updated 30 August)

Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n; KJU) hosted a banquet with Korean People’s Army [KPA] Navy command and political command staff on 27 August (Saturday).  The event appeared to have taken place on the premises of […]

Aug, 29

Memorial Events Held to Mark Death of Marshal Hyon Chol Hae

DPRK elites marked the one-year anniversary of the death of KPA Marshal Hyon Chol Hae (Hyo’n Ch’o’l-hae) on 19 May (Friday). Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n; KJU) and Minister of National Defense Gen. Kang Sun […]

May, 21

Gen Z’s Volunteer for KPA Service

The DPRK’s university students and other young people are volunteering to join, or rejoin, the Korean People’s Army [KPA] with “800,000 youth league officials and students across the country” on 17 March (Friday) and the […]

Mar, 22

KJU Attends Long Range Missile Drill (updated 17 March)

Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n; KJU) and his daughter, Kim Ju Ae (Kim Chu-a’e), attended a drill involving the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile on 16 March (Thursday) at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang.  The drill […]

Mar, 17

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