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"In wartime, truth is so precious that
she should always be attended by
a bodyguard of lies."
Winston Churchill

Missiles - Leaders

DPRK Missile Programs - Kim Jong-un DPRK New Missiles - 15 April 2017 DPRK TEL - Transporter Ereactor Launchers DPRK Missile Programs - Leaders Missile and Space : DPRK + Iran Iranian & North Korean Collaboration Russian & PRC Nuclear Weapons Heritage - 1 Russian & PRC Nuclear Weapons Heritage - 2 Cross Country Designation Comparison Configuration Data Range Data Range Maps

As North Korea continued to conduct nuclear tests, Western countries were also stepping up analysis of the "nuclear think tank" team behind North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong Un. Investigations by some North Korean experts and Western security and intelligence agencies show that a "missile trio" composed of former senior air force general Li Bingzhe, rocket scientist Kim Jong-sik, and weapons research and development department head Zhang Changhe has surfaced. Among them, Kim Jong-sik, who was previously not high-ranked but was later "promoted by the Rockets" because of his outstanding talents, received particular attention.

Fox News reported on 06 September 2017 that a series of images from North Korea showed that a middle-aged man in his 50s and wearing glasses frequently appeared next to Kim Jong-un. According to Mike Madden, the person in charge of the North Korean Leadership Observation Network, this man is Kim Jong-sik. In April 2012, North Korea’s "Yinhe 3" rocket failed to launch, and it was Kim Jong-sik who discovered the fault. At the end of the same year, North Korea successfully sent the "Yinhe 3" into space, which gave Kim Jong-sik a special appreciation. Soon, he rose from an inconspicuous middle-level personnel in the space technology department to one of the heads of the North Korean Ministry of Military Supplies Industry, and became Kim Jong-un's missile technology consultant. Now he has become the "mainstay" of the North Korean ballistic missile project.

According to the report, the other two in the "trio" were also "cultivated" by Kim Jong-un, and were responsible for North Korea's missile project together with Kim Jong-sik. Among the three, the veteran Li Bingzhe has followed Kim Jong Un for the longest time and the most seniority. Li Bingzhe, born in 1948, was educated in the Soviet Union and visited China and Russia. According to Reuters, Kim Jong-un began to be entrusted with important responsibilities in North Korea near 2010, and Li Bingzhe was probably promoted at this time.

Among the three, the outside world had the most limited knowledge of Zhang Changhe, only that he is the head of the North Korean Academy of Defense Science. Insiders revealed that the agency has about 15,000 staff, including about 3,000 missile engineers. Many advanced weapon systems have been secretly developed within the agency, including "missile weapons and even nuclear weapons." Not only that, the agency is also responsible for the introduction and procurement of overseas advanced equipment, technology and information. At the end of 2016, Zhang Changhe was blacklisted by the US Treasury Department.

While North Korea’s missile tests had been strongly condemned by the international community, the country’s missile project team enjoyed a great deal and honor. In the eyes of Western media, North Korea’s "missile trio" was definitely the country’s "privileged class." Take Kim Jong-sik as an example. He was originally a civil aviation technician, but now he is wearing a general uniform. Although his main responsibilities are in technical research, he had a very high right to speak in personnel and policy making, and his power even surpasses many senior officials in the country.

It is not difficult to see from the body language that the relationship between the "trio" and Kim Jong-un is much closer than that of other officials. Whenever a test shot is successful, Kim Jong-un almost has to "closely interact" with the three of them, such as hugging each other or smoking together to celebrate. Not only that, at least two of the three have boarded Kim Jong-un's private plane "Goshawk One." There are also opinions that Kim Jong-un kept the three by his side in order to be able to bypass the tedious bureaucracy and directly supervise the progress of the work. This reflects the urgency of North Korea’s high-level development of missile technology.

Both Kim Jong-sik and Zhang Changhe came from ordinary families, and their identity backgrounds are far from the original prominent figures of the North Korean ruling class. In the eyes of Western public opinion, it was rare for Kim Jong Un to know people and make good use of it. According to an unnamed South Korean official, Kim Jong-un has been committed to cultivating his cronies in order to get rid of the "veteran" whom his father valued, and his reuse of the "missile trio" is based on this. Madden said that these "think tanks" under Kim Jong-un "brought North Korea's missile project into the 21st century" and played a vital role in the development of the country's nuclear projects.

At a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee chaired by Kim Jong-un, Kim Jae Ryong [Jin Cai Long] was appointed as the vice chairman and minister of the Party Central Committee. On April 11, 2019, the first meeting of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea opened. Kim Jae Rong succeeded Pak Pong Joo and was "accidentally" elected as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet and became a member of the new leadership team of North Korea.

Prior to this, Jin Cailong had long served as the chairman of the party committee in Chagang Province, the center of North Korea’s military industrial facilities, but he was directly promoted from the local to the central government. Such a rapid promotion was the first time in North Korean history. Said it was an exceptional personnel arrangement. Analysis believes that under the high pressure of sanctions, Kim Jae Rong has achieved remarkable economic results, which has been affirmed by Kim Jong Un. His loyalty to the Labor Party also adds points to it.

It is worth mentioning that the Chagang Province where he was located is the birthplace of the "Jiangjie Spirit" through "self-reliance and overcoming economic difficulties" in North Korea's "Misery March" in the 1990s. From this point of view, he is also considered to be the best candidate to implement the spirit of "self-reliance" emphasized by Kim Jong-un, and shoulder the important task of revitalizing the North Korean economy.

When the North Korean economy is in trouble, it is necessary to import younger forces to ensure new impetus. However, he was transferred less than a year and a half after he took office. Korean media believe that under the dual pressure of the new crown epidemic and floods, the North Korean economy is unable to recover in the short term. The "economic commander" Kim Jae-yong has failed to get Kim Jong-un's performance. satisfaction.

Kim Deok-hoon, who succeeded him as the new prime minister of the cabinet, is not a new face. He is quite experienced in the cabinet.