Wonsu
ROK Army Insignia ROK Navy Insignia
Korean name
Hangul:	원수
Hanja:	元帥
Revised Romanization:	Wonsu
McCune-Reischauer:	Wŏnsu

A Wonsu is the highest military rank of the Republic of Korea (ROK) armed forces and is the combined equivalent of a General of the Army, Fleet Admiral and Marshal of the Royal Air Force in other nations. The rank exists on paper only, and has never been held by an officer of the South Korean Armed Forces. It is theorized that the rank could be bestowed in the event of another major war; however, such a rank would only be issued in the event of a prolonged conflict. Image File history File links South Korea 5 Star General Insignia (U.S. Army IOH) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links South Korea 5 Star General Insignia (U.S. Army IOH) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... South Korean Fleet Admiral This work is copyrighted. ... South Korean Fleet Admiral This work is copyrighted. ... For other uses, see Hangul (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Sino-Korean be merged into this article or section. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean (Korean: 국어의 로마자 표기법; 國語의 로마字 表記法) is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ... McCune-Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced (a modified) McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000. ... Comparative military ranks of Korea refer to the ranks and insignia maintained by the three primary military powers on the Korean Peninsula, those being the South Korean military, the armed forces of North Korea, and the military forces of the United States. ... The military of South Korea is one of the largest standing armed forces in the world. ... General of the Army, or less formally five-star general, is historically the second most senior rank in the United States Army. ... A Fleet Admiral or a Admiral Of The Fleet, as it was first coined, is a military officer of very high rank and is a generic term for a senior admiral in command of a large group of ships, comprising a fleet or, in some cases, a group of fleets. ... Marshal of the RAF sleeve/shoulder insignia Marshal of the Royal Air Force was the highest rank in the Royal Air Force. ...

The South Korean rank insignia for Wonsu is heavily influenced by United States military insignia, in that a five star pentagon design is used very similar to the U.S. rank of General of the Army. General of the Army, or less formally five-star general, is historically the second most senior rank in the United States Army. ...

North Korean Wonsu badge

The rank of Wonsu may also be found in the military of North Korea where it is held by senior Generals of the North Korean Army. A North Korean Wonsu is rated above a Field Marshal position known as Chasu with the North Korean Wonsu considered the equivalent of a six star general. Image File history File links North Korean Marshal Badge (U.S. Army Intel File on North Korea) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links North Korean Marshal Badge (U.S. Army Intel File on North Korea) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... North Korea now has the fourth-largest military in the world. ... North Korea, officially the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK; Korean: Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk; Hangul: 조선민주주의인민공화국; Hanja: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國), is a country in eastern Asia... Note: This article is about the military usage of the word marshal. For other usages, see the end of this article. ... A Chasu is a supreme military rank of North Korea, equivalent to a Field Marshal in other countries. ...

An even higher rank, that of Dae Wonsu may be held by the commander-in-chief of the entire North Korean military. Kim Il-Sung once held this supreme rank as president of North Korea. Dae Wonsu is the highest possible military rank of North Korea and is intended to be held solely by the nation’s commander-in-chief. ... Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was the leader of North Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death, when he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il. ...

Coincidentally, "wonsu" is also a word meaning "enemy"(怨讐) in South Korea. The two words have different etymologies and completely different hanja, but are homophonous and so are written identically in hangul. This is not the case in North Korea, where the government has addressed the issue by changing the word for enemy to "wonssu" (원쑤). Etymology is the study of the origins of words. ... It has been suggested that Sino-Korean be merged into this article or section. ... Homonyms (in Greek homoios = identical and onoma = name) are words which have the same form (orthographic/phonetic) but unrelated meaning. ... For other uses, see Hangul (disambiguation). ...

See also

• List of Korea-related topics