N. Korea's No. 2 military leader Jo dies of heart disease+

BEIJING, Nov. 7 Kyodo -
North Korea's No. 2 military leader Jo Myong Rok, who promoted leader Kim Jong
Il's ''Songun'' military-first politics, died Saturday of chronic heart
disease, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported. He was 82.
A vice marshal of the Korean People's Army, Jo served as a member of the
Presidium of the Political Bureau of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, first
as vice chairman of the National Defense Commission and then as director of the
KPA's General Political Department.
North Korea will hold a state funeral Wednesday for Jo run by ''a state funeral
committee with Kim Jong Il as its chairman and Kim Jong Un and 169 others as
its members,'' KCNA said, indicating Kim Jong Un, the leader's third son and
heir apparent, may be the country's de facto No. 2 leader, though he is
believed to rank sixth in the party hierarchy.
North Korea watchers believe Jo's death is unlikely to have a major impact on
the organization and management of the party.
Jo is known for visiting Washington in October 2000 as Kim Jong Il's special
envoy and holding talks with then U.S. President Bill Clinton. Jo accompanied
leader Kim during his visit to China in May that year, China's Xinhua News
Agency said.
However, the North's official media has hardly reported on Jo since his health
began deteriorating around 2006.
''Jo Myong Rok was a revolutionary comrade loyal to leader Kim Jong Il and a
prominent activist of the WPK, the state and the army of the DPRK who devoted
his whole life to the sacred struggle for the freedom and independence of the
country and the victory of the cause of socialism,'' KCNA said.
DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea.
Jo was born in North Hamgyong Province on July 12, 1928. After joining the KPA
in 1950, Jo fought the 1950-1953 Korean War as a KPA pilot before serving as
chief of staff and commander of the Air Force.
In 1995, Jo was promoted to a vice marshal and director of the military's
General Political Department. He became first vice chairman of the National
Defense Commission in 1998.
Jo was elected to a member of the party's five-member Political Bureau
Presidium at a conference of party delegates in September this year.
==Kyodo