 He served as secretary of the South Pyongyang Provincial Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in the 1960s and was elected alternate member of the WPK Central Committee in 1980 at the 6th Party Congress.In 1986 he was elevated to Central Committee full member, director of the KPA General Staff Operations Bureau and deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly.He was abruptly purged in 1988 along with Chief of General Staff O Kuk-ryol for disputes with O Jin-u.