Yun Dong-hyon, a former Vice Minister of the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces (now the Ministry of Defense) who led North Korea's nuclear and missile development, has died.
The Korean Central News Agency reported on the 15th that Kim Jong-un sent a wreath on the 14th to express deep condolences on the death of Comrade Yun Dong-hyon, a "double Hero of Labor and recipient of the Kim Il Sung Order," a former counselor of the defense science guidance committee.
The agency said the former Vice Minister Yun "contributed in every way to strengthening the military-technical power of our army" while working for a long period in a responsible post in the munitions industry sector.
The former Vice Minister Yun is one of the key figures in the military who closely accompanied the Chairperson Kim's nuclear and missile development and military training sites.
Early in the Chairperson Kim's rule, after being appointed a vice director of the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces, he frequently appeared at major military events, including observing tests of multiple rocket launchers and missiles and visiting munitions factories in the mid-2010s.
At a ceremony in September 2016 in Kim Il Sung Square celebrating the fifth nuclear test, he also threatened, saying, "If the enemies so much as stir to damage the dignity, self-respect and authority of our state, we will decisively and powerfully carry out a preemptive nuclear strike to bring to a victorious close the anti-U.S. confrontation that has continued through the centuries."
From 2012 for about three years, the former Vice Minister Yun was demoted from colonel general to lieutenant general and major general, then returned to colonel general after passing back through lieutenant general, repeating several demotions and promotions. Since 2015, he appears to have maintained the rank of colonel general.
After being named to the funeral committee for Kim Chol-man, an anti-Japanese partisan and munitions expert, in 2018, he appears to have stepped back from front-line duties.