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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.

By 2009 he had been demoted from a Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission to a member of the NDC.

On 15 April 2010 KCNA reported that General Secretary Kim Jong Il appreciated a concert given by artistes of the Unhasu Orchestra and other national art troupes on the occasion of the Day of the Sun. Among the audience were KPA Vice Marshal Kim Yong Chun, vice-chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission and minister of the People's Armed Forces, KPA General Kim Jong Gak, member of the NDC of the DPRK and first vice-director of the General Political Bureau of the KPA, KPA General Ri Yong Ho, chief of the General Staff of the KPA, KPA Vice Marshal Kim Il Chol, member of the DPRK NDC, and other commanding officers of the KPA.

The June 2010 CIA leadership roster did not include Kim Il Chol as a member of the DPRK NDC/