He was also chief of staff at the training facility April 25 and was promoted to Lieutenant General of the People's Army in 1982.

As such, he took over the post of head of the training department in the main administration operation of the general staff in 1984 and was also a planning officer in the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces and tutor for military affairs of his cousin Kim Jong-il.

[2] In June 1989, he was appointed deputy member of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers' Party.

In the same year, he became the head of the Operations Department for the first time in the General Staff of the Korean People's Army.

From April 2007, he was the operational commander of the North Korean armed forces for the second time.