Kang Yang Wook

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Kang Yang Wook (?) was a North Korean Protestant Minister and Chairman of the Christian Federation during the 1950s.

Kang Yang Wook was the maternal uncle of North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung. In his early years he was a school teacher (one of his pupils was Kim Il Sung). In the 1940s he studied Theology at the Pyongyang University and after he completed his study he became a Minister.

Kang Yang Wook became one of the close advisers of Kim Il Sung shortly after his return from the Soviet Union in October 1945. In 1946 he became the Chairman of the Christian League, later called Christian Federation. This organisation was in close contact with the Communist Party. In 1949 all Protestant Ministers were forced to join Kang's Christian Federation.

On March 1, 1946 some Korean activists tried to assassinate Kim Il Sung during a meeting. His life was saved by a Russian bodyguard. Later some of these same activists killed the son of Kang Yang Wook and his future wife on their wedding day. After this killing the Communist started a campaign to "eliminate the reactionary forces."

In the late 1940s Rev Kang Yang Wook became deputy Chairman of the Choson Democratic Party (Korean Democratic Party), which was a close ally of the ruling Korean Workers' Party.

Kang Yang Wook was one of the deputy prime ministers of North Korea and a secretary of the Great People's Assembly (parliament).