Kim, Il-ch'ol / Kim Il Chul
Minister of the People's Armed Forces (Vice Marshal)
Following the death of Kim Kwang Jin, the First Vice-Minister of the People's Armed Forces, in February 1997, Kim Il Chul, in his mid-sixties at the time, was named as his successor in April 1997. As is the case with Jo Myung Rok, the Director General of the General Political Bureau, Kim was chosen for his outstanding service in the Navy.
Since his appointment as a Navy Commander in 1980, he has made great contributions to improving Navy operations and tactics, and is known to have played a key role in resolving the case of the U.S.S. Pueblo abduction while serving as the Chief of Staff of the East Sea Fleet Command.
He was elected as a member of the KWP Central Committee and Central Military Commission in 1980, and served as a member of the 7th-10th Supreme People's Assemblies.
He was promoted to General in April 1992, and to Vice Marshal in April 1997. He graduated from the Mankyungdae Revolutionary School and the Soviet Navy University. In September 1998, he was named the Minister of the People's Armed Forces and Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission, posts which had been left vacant since the death of Choe Kwang in February 1997.
In September 2000, he visited Cheju, South Korea as the head of the North Korean delegation to the first inter-Korean defense ministerial talks.
In April 2001, he visited Russia as the chief of the North Korean military delegation.
