Jo Myong-rok

Jo was born in Yonsa County, North Hamgyong province, on 12 July 1928 and he joined the Korean People's Army in December 1950.[3] He was a graduate of the Manchuria Aviation School and Soviet Air Academy.[3]

After serving as a pilot in the Korean War, Jo was promoted to major general in 1954 and lieutenant general in 1976. Meanwhile, he held other important posts, such as commanding officer of Pyongyang's Air Defence Command (1975–1977), and commanding officer of the Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force from 1977 to 1995. At the 6th Party Congress in 1980, Jo Myong-rok was elected both member of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (he was elected an alternate member of the 5th Central Committee in 1975) and the 6th Central Military Commission. In 1992 he was promoted to general; in 1994 he was part of Kim Il Sung's funeral committee; in 1995 he was promoted to Vice Marshal and director of the KPA General Political Bureau.

He made a key speech commemorating the third anniversary of Kim Il Sung's death in special ceremonies on 8 July 1997.[4] By 1998, when he was also appointed to the position of First Vice Chairman of the National Defence Commission, he was the second most powerful person in the country, ranking immediately beneath Kim Jong Il himself. In 2000, he traveled to Washington, D.C., on a goodwill mission.[5] During the visit, he met with President Bill Clinton, his counterpart William Cohen, and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.[6] He was the first North Korean official to visit the White House or meet a President of the United States. The Clinton administration reciprocated by sending Albright to Pyongyang one week later to meet Kim Jong Il.[7]

On 6 November 2010, Jo died of a heart attack at the age of 82,[1] one month after he was elected as member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau.[8] His funeral committee was chaired by Kim Jong Il and attended by more than a hundred political and military figures, including Kim Jong Un and Supreme People's Assembly President Kim Yong-nam. He lay in state in the Central Workers' Hall (home of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea) in Pyongyang and was buried in the Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery.

Against expectations, his successor was not elected at the 4th Session of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly in April 2011. There was speculation that Kim Jong Il was deliberately leaving the post vacant in order to promote his son, Kim Jong Un, when he was ready.

• Jo Myong-rok, Envoy to U.S From North Korea, Dies at 82