Kim Kyok-sik

General Kim Kyok-sik (김격식) (b. 1943) is a former defence minister of North Korea.
Biography
Kim Kyok-sik was born in 1943. He studied at Kim Il-sung Military Academy before being moved to Syria as North Korea's military attaché in the 1970s, possibly managing support activities for the Eritrean Liberation Front and the Turkish Workers' Party. He was called back to North Korea by the 1980s, serving as an official of the Korean People's Army; he was elected deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly in 1990, appointed member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in 1991, and promoted to colonel general in 1992. He was given a low-level position in the Kim Il-sung funeral committee in 1994.
Kim was promoted to general in 1997. He received command of the 2nd Army Corps in October 1994 and held it until April 2007, when he was appointed Chief of the General Staff replacing Kim Yong-chun, who had been appointed defence minister. He was succeeded...