Choe Ik-gyu, Date of Birth, Place of Birth
TweetChoe Ik-gyu
North Korean propagandist
Date of Birth: 26-Feb-1934
Place of Birth: Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province, North Korea
Profession: propagandist
Nationality: North Korea
Zodiac Sign: Pisces 
About Choe Ik-gyu
- Choe Ik-gyu (Korean: ???, born 27 February 1934), also known under the pseudonym Choe Sang-gun, is a North Korean film director, propagandist, and politician. Choe became the head of the Korea Film Studio in 1956 at age 22.
- By the time Kim Jong-il took over the country's film industry in 1968, Choe was the most experienced filmmaker of North Korea.
- Kim and Choe became close associates – Kim producing and Choe directing – a number of important North Korean films.
- Sea of Blood (1968) and The Flower Girl (1972) were "Immortal Classics" that, in addition to being popular successes, profoundly shaped the industry.
- By the end of the 1960s, Choe supervised film making in all of North Korea as the Propaganda and Agitation Department film section head.
- In 1972, his responsibilities covered other forms of North Korean propaganda as well after he was made the vice director of the Department. In 1978, Kim had South Korea's famous director-actress couple Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee abducted to North Korea.
- Choe was tasked with aiding them to make films for North Korea.
- After Shin and Choi escaped in 1986 on a business trip in Vienna under Choe's watch, he was demoted.
- Kim Jong-il's trust in Choe would survive despite numerous incidents leading to the latter's dismissal from his posts.
- All in all, Choe has been sacked five times from the Propaganda and Agitation Department: first in 1969, then in 1977 as part of purges, in 1986 after the Vienna affair, in 1993, and finally 2010.
- He served as the country's Minister of Culture between 2003 and 2006.
- He finally became the head of the Propaganda and Agitation Department in 2009, but was replaced the following year.
- He remains a delegate to the Supreme People's Assembly. Choe remained part of Kim's inner circle until the latter's death in 2011.
- Choe supported Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong-un's, ascension to the leadership of the country at a time when he was still an uncertain heir.
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