A new report has shed light on the growing influence of Choe Ryong-hae, one of North Korea’s most senior officials and long-time confidant of Kim Jong-un, warning that the powerful figure may be quietly establishing a personal power base that could challenge the North Korean leader’s unchallenged authority.
Choe, who currently serves as head of the Organisation and Guidance Department (OGD)—one of the most powerful organs in the Korean Workers’ Party—is described in the report as the “invisible hand” behind the regime. The analysis, conducted by South Korea’s National Assembly Research Service (NARS) and reported by Times UK, provides a rare and revealing glimpse into the secretive and often brutal inner workings of Pyongyang’s leadership.
While Choe has remained publicly loyal to Kim Jong-un, the report notes that he has been steadily consolidating influence by directly controlling key appointments and advancing his own loyalists to high-ranking positions. This move is highly unusual in North Korea’s rigidly hierarchical system and echoes the kind of internal power-building that has, in the past, triggered deadly purges.
“Choe Ryong-hae is supporting Kim Jong-un’s rule as an ‘invisible hand’, refraining from public activities to a great extent,” the report’s author, Lee Seung-yeol, wrote. “But paradoxically, Choe, who has grown with the authority granted by Kim, is limiting the North Korean leader by eliminating competition and checks and balances among the elite.”
Despite a checkered past that includes a dramatic purge in 2015—when he was reportedly sent to a collective farm for “re-education” following a tunnel collapse—Choe has rebounded to become a dominant force in Pyongyang politics. His recovery may have been bolstered by a politically strategic family tie: his son is married to Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader.
A son of revolutionary royalty, Choe Ryong-hae is the offspring of Choe Hyon, a celebrated guerilla fighter against Japanese occupation. Rising swiftly through party ranks, Choe was appointed as a general in 2010 by the late Kim Jong-il and has since held roles of increasing significance, including the ceremonial head of state in 2019—further cementing his authority.
According to the NARS analysis, his control over the OGD grants him substantial influence, as the department is charged with maintaining the Supreme Leader’s absolute rule. “The director of the OGD holds a core position… referred to as the ‘party within the party’. He plays the role of the second-in-command within North Korea’s power structure,” the report states.
Choe’s trajectory bears a resemblance to that of Chang Sung-thaek, Kim Jong-un’s once-powerful uncle who was spectacularly executed in 2013 for alleged treason. Observers fear that Choe may be walking a similarly dangerous line.
Adding to his notoriety, Choe is rumored to harbor extreme and highly unconventional sexual tastes—a detail that has fueled speculation and added intrigue to his enigmatic persona, though these claims remain unverified.
“Amid rapid changes in the international order,” the report concludes, “the stability of the balance between Kim Jong-un’s legitimacy and [Choe] Ryong-hae’s executive power will be crucial.”
While Choe’s power has so far grown with Kim’s blessing, history suggests that any perceived challenge to the North Korean leader—real or imagined—has often ended in brutal fashion. Whether Choe’s ambitions remain in service to Kim or grow into something more dangerous remains one of the most closely watched questions in the halls of power in Seoul, Washington, and beyond.
