Choe Yong-gon (Korean: 최용건; 21 June 1900 – 19 September 1976) was the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army from 1948 to 1950, North Korean defence minister from 1948 to 1957, and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 1957 to 1972.

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Quick Facts Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, Preceded by ...

Choe Yong-gon
최용건
Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly
In office 20 September 1957 – 28 December 1972
Preceded by	Kim Tu-bong
Succeeded by	Hwang Jang-yop
Minister of Defence
In office 2 September 1948 – 20 September 1957
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Kim Kwang-hyop
Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army
In office 2 September 1948 – 4 July 1950
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Kim Il Sung
Personal details
Born	(1900-06-21)21 June 1900 Taechon County, North Pyongan, Korean Empire
Died	19 September 1976(1976-09-19) (aged 76) Pyongyang, North Korea
Political party	Democratic, Workers'
Military service
Allegiance	North Korea
Branch/service	Korean People's Army
Years of service	1927–1976
Rank	Vice marshal
Commands	Supreme Commander
Battles/wars	Chinese Civil War Korean Independence Movement World War II Korean War
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	최용건
Hancha	崔庸健
Revised Romanization	Choe Yonggeon
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'oe Yonggŏn

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Choe was born in Taechon County (태천군, 泰川郡) in North Pyongan, Korea, in 1900. He was educated at two military academies.

Choe's first military deployment was to fight the Chinese Northern Expedition of 1927. He also took part in the Canton Communist riots in December later that year. He moved to Manchuria to form a guerrilla organization and military academy school to trained the anti-Japanese guerrilla army. Choe joined the Chinese Communist Party and the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in 1936.

He led a guerrilla unit against the Japanese after they occupied Manchuria (Manchukuo) in September 1931. In 1940, Choe and his troops had fled to the Soviet-Manchurian border in the Soviet Union and participated with the 88th Independent Brigade of the Soviet Army.

In 1945, he returned to Korea after Japan was defeated in World War II.

In 1946, he became the chairman of the Korean Democratic Party (KDP) and led this organization to a pro-communist course.^[1] He was, however, concurrently secretly a member of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and tasked with keeping the KDP from becoming an independent political force.^[2] Afterwards, he came into more promotions and by February 1948, he was appointed the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army.^[1] When the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established in Pyongyang on September 9, 1948, he was appointed the Minister of National Security. He was in fact the senior field commander for all the North Korean armies during the Korean War, from the first invasion of South Korea in June 1950 till the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in July 1953.

In 1953, Choe was promoted to Vice Marshal and was made the Minister of Defence.^[1] In September 1957, he was removed from his position as Minister of Defense and made the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, a largely ceremonial position.^[1] In this post, he was North Korea's nominal head of state. He was appointed as Vice President by the Supreme People's Assembly in 1972 and he left the office in 1974.^[3][4] He died in Pyongyang in 1976.^[5] Following his death he was given a state funeral.^[6]

In his memoirs, Hwang Jang-yop, a former chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly who defected to South Korea said Choe was famous for being very hard to have close relations with, but in reality he was not that strict.^[7]

In 1970 there were reports of his deteriorating health, and after attending in November 1970 the KWP Congress and retaining his Vice-Marshal position, he departed for treatment in the German Democratic Republic.^[8]

• Choi, Yong-kun (1960). Concerning Further Promotion of the Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland: Report Presented by Choi Yong Keun (Choi Yong Kun) at the 8th Session of the 2nd Term of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Nov. 19, 1960. Tokyo: General Association of the Koreans in Japan. OCLC 83502262.
• — (1962). On Waging a Nation-wide Struggle for the Withdrawal of the U.S. Army From South Korea: Report of President Choi Yong Kun at the 11th Session of the 2nd Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK (June 20, 1962). Tokyo: General Association of the Koreans in Japan. OCLC 2316900.
• — (1963). Report at the Pyongyang City Celebrations of the 15th Anniversary of the Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House. OCLC 610305536.
• Liu, Shao-chi; Choi, Yong-kun (1963). Joint statement of Chairman Liu Shao-chi and President Choi Yong Kun. Peking: Foreign Languages Press. OCLC 9504560.

• Kim Kwang-hyop
• Kim Il Sung
• Zhou Baozhong