report of the North Korean battalion commander by future leader of North Korea Kim Il-sung. In September, Meretskov inspected the liberated cities of Changchun, Shenyang and Dalian, and assisted the Chinese Communist Party in restoring the party organization in the Northeast China and the establishment of the Northern Manchurian Committee of CCP. Meretskov was awarded the Order of Victory. As commander of Soviet forces in Korea, he launched the career of Kim Il-Sung. Commander and Assistant Minister of Defense After the war Meretskov commanded a number of military districts until 1955 (including the Moscow Military District in 1947–49), when he was made the Assistant Minister of Defense, a post he held until 1964. In that year, he was made the Inspector-General Ministry of Defense, a largely ceremonial post. Death Meretskov died on December 30, 1968, at the age of 71. The urn containing his ashes is buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. A street in Moscow, St Petersburg and Petrozavodsk is named after him. Honours and awards Soviet Union Foreign awards In popular culture Meretskov is a character in the 2009 novel The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. References Sources External links Kirill Meretskov (in Russian) Biography, Kirill Meretskov (HRONO) (in Russian) 1897 births 1968 deaths People from Zaraysky District People from Ryazan Governorate Old Bolsheviks Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union candidate members First convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Second convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Third convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic Marshals of the Soviet Union Frunze Military Academy alumni Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet people of the Spanish Civil War Soviet military personnel of the Winter War Russian people of World War II Soviet military personnel of World War II Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Victory Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Chief Commanders of the Legion of Merit Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class Order of Saint Olav Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni