North Korea's number one is Kim Jong-un, so who is North Korea's second in command? We all know that Kim Jong-un's car is a Mercedes-Benz Mai**, but he once gave a Mai** to another important person. So who is this person? How good is he?
Kim Jong-un has proposed a policy that has shocked everyone: the restoration of the cabinet and the state's economic guidance body. The existing economic organization and management functions should be improved in the management of the overall economy. The news was quite explosive, because the Cabinet had not existed as a substantive governing body for a long time before that. Kim Il-sung was the prime minister of North Korea at the time of independence, and neither Kim Jong-il nor Kim Jong-un succeeded him as prime minister at the same time. It is precisely because of this that in the Jin family's absolute one-word hall system in the past, the prime minister was more like a mascot. For more than 10 years, Kim Jong-un has not paid much attention to the prime minister. Although the prime minister is nominally responsible for the decision-making and deployment of the entire country, in reality he has no real real power. Now, however, North Korea's new prime minister, Kim Tok-hoon, looks set to change all that. Kim Deok-hoon is definitely one of North Korea's most mysterious figures, as he has rarely been seen in public before.
In December 2011, at a farewell ceremony for Kim Jong-il's body, the seven people who were responsible for escorting the body were considered the most important leaders of North Korea in the future, but we did not see Kim Took-hoon. And the eight-member group that tried Jang Song-taek in 2013 did not include Kim Deok-hoon, which is enough to prove that Kim Deok-hoon was not enough to be at the top of North Korean politics at that time. However, in 2022, Kim Deok-hoon appeared among the 20 people who could attend the 80th anniversary report meeting of Kim Jong-il held in Paektu Mountain, so many people think that Kim Deok-hoon is similar, that is, he was promoted during that time. It was also at that time that Kim Tok-hoon began to reach the highest levels of North Korean politics.
Kim Deok-hoon, born in 1962, is a post-60s generation who is still young in the political arena. On August 13, 2020, he was appointed Prime Minister of the DPRK Cabinet. He has a long history of inter-Korean cooperation and has served as a special representative in the Republic of Korea for a long time. But when people thought that Kim Deok-hoon was a diplomat, they looked through his resume and found that Kim Deok-hoon was actually an economic genius. Kim Deok-hoon served as a leader on Cigang Island and also created an economic miracle there. Tsega Island is a first-level administrative region adjacent to North Korea and China, and there are many key military and heavy industrial units here. It is actually not easy to be a leader here, if you do a good job, you can be transferred to **, but if you don't do a good job, then the end will be very miserable. Before becoming the leader here, Kim was in charge of the local Daan Heavy Machinery Complex. As one of the largest heavy industry enterprises in North Korea, Kim Jong Il has given a series of speeches here, pointing out the direction of North Korea's economic construction in the future, and saying that everything is based on the Daan business system. Since then, the Daan plant has become one of the symbols of North Korea and synonymous with the development of heavy industry in North Korea. After Kim Deok-hoon became the joint director of Daan Heavy Machinery, his burden became heavier.
At the grassroots level, he worked very hard, so he was soon approved to become the top leader of the Daan Machinery Complex. Because North Korea was still in the midst of a difficult march at that time, it was very difficult to use electricity, and even the Daan plant was facing the dilemma of power outages at two ends in three days. Therefore, in March 2001, Kim Jong Il decided to start construction of the Xichuan Hydropower Station in order to alleviate the problem of electricity shortage. The project was supposed to be fully completed by 2012, and Kim Jong Il took it very seriously, and in the two years before his death, he visited the hydropower plant several times, and it was clear that he was still reassured of the progress there. However, in 2011, Kim Jong-il died suddenly while inspecting the place. It is said that before he died, he was thinking about visiting the hydropower station. All the machinery and equipment of this hydropower plant are produced by Daan Heavy Machinery Complex, and Kim Deok-hoon really completed the project in 2022. His achievements are also seen by Kim Jong-un. Immediately after the death of his father, Kim Jong-un transferred Kim Deok-hoon to work on the construction of the hydropower plant. Kim Deok-hoon's command was very effective, and the hydropower station was fully completed in less than five months. Kim Jong-un was very pleased with Kim Tok-hoon and said that he was an important engineering master rarely seen in North Korea.
After the dam was completed, Kim Jong-un personally sent gifts to all the plant's employees, and awarded Kim Deok-hoon and others the title of Hero of Labor and medals such as the Kim Il Sung Prize, which is a highly respected symbol in North Korea. After the start of power generation at the Xichuan Hydropower Station, speed became synonymous with the achievement of competing for leading industrialization, and Kim Deok-hoon also received high praise. North Korea says he works creatively and his policies are thoughtful. Soon, his fame spread throughout North Korea. In 2013, Kim Jong-un convened a comprehensive meeting to adjust the Songun economic course and said that the civilian economy should go hand in hand with the army's construction. Subsequently, he appointed Minister of Light Industry Park Bong-joo as Prime Minister of the Cabinet, who was specifically responsible for economic construction. And Kim Deok-hoon was also transferred to ** and became the vice prime minister in charge of personnel. At the 2015 National Workers' Party Congress, Kim was re-elected as a member. In the face of tighter and tighter sanctions by the United States, Kim Jong-un has proposed more than once at the meeting that the DPRK's economy must reform and innovate, but the current cabinet does not dare to reform and innovate, which is very frightening. Now that the DPRK's economy is stagnant, it is terrible that the cabinet cannot lead and promote the grand cause of self-reliance and self-reliance. As a result, Park Bong-joo, who was considered to be unfavorable, was gradually left out in the cold, and Kim Deok-hoon, who had created the miracle of Seohon, gradually began to rise.
The current system of the DPRK is divided into three parts: the party, the government and the military, and the DPRK cabinet is the highest administrative organ and state management organ stipulated in the constitution, that is, the people. The de facto leader of the DPRK is in a sense the prime minister of the DPRK. But in reality, in the past, the prime minister had to follow the supreme directives, and North Korea's economic system was based on cabinet accountability. Due to the long-standing economic system of the DPRK, it is not a day or two that the powers and responsibilities of the DPRK are not clear, and the nesting and entanglement of institutions has also become a major problem plaguing the DPRK. But since Kim Deok-hoon came up, his task has become heavier. Kim Tok-hoon now holds the position of North Korea's Grand Steward, who is in charge of running the economy and is known as the Economic Command. Decisions related to the economy, including agriculture, industry, finance, and technology, need to be approved by him before they can be presented to Kim Jong-un. And he is also in charge of North Korea's foreign cooperation, such as the ** agreement with China and Russia, which was signed in the name of Kim Deok-hoon. According to Mr. Kim, he will gradually deregulate the private sector in the future and modernize North Korea. Kim Jong-un also has more support and trust in Kim Deok-wook, believing that he will play the most positive role in North Korea's economic development and improvement of people's livelihood.
There is no doubt that Kim Deok-hoon's position in North Korea is really below one person and above 10,000 people, and even Kim Yo-jong has not gained such power. But there is no doubt that Kim Tok-hoon still has a long way to go, after all, the current North Korean cabinet has just acquired a little real power, which can be withdrawn at any time if Kim Jong-un is not happy. In short, if Kim Deok-hoon wants to go further, he needs the joint coordination of all parties. In any case, now he is very much trusted by Kim Jong-un as the second-in-command of North Korea. However, it is not easy to be a second-in-command in North Korea after all, and we can see what we need to pay attention to when being a second-in-command in North Korea. But a cautious person like Kim Tok-hoon may really be able to create a political miracle in North Korea and truly improve North Korea's economic system.
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