Ri Yong-gil

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In this Korean name, the family name is Ri.
Vice Marshal

Ri Yong-gil
리영길
Born1952 (age 70–71)
North Korea
Minister of Social Security
In office
2019–2021
Succeeded byJang Jong-nam
Chief of the General Staff
In office
August 2013 – January 2016
Supreme Commander
Minister of National Defense
Assumed office
September 29, 2021
Supreme CommanderKim Jong-un
Military career
AllegianceKorean People's Army
Service/branchKorean People's Army Ground Force
Years of service1970s–present
RankCh'asu (Vice Marshal)
Commands held
  • 3rd Army Corps 2002 to 2007
  • 5th Army Corps 2007 to 2012
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
리영길
Hancha
李永吉
Revised RomanizationI Yeonggil
McCune–ReischauerRi Yŏnggil

Ri Yong-gil (리영길, born 1955[1]) is a North Korean military officer and the current Minister of Social Security. He is believed to have been in his 60s when appointed to his position as a general in 2013.[2]

Ri (right) at the 2019 Kim–Putin meeting

Ri was made a Lieutenant General in April 2002 and given command of the forward-deployed 3rd Army Corps from 2002 to 2007, and later the 5th Army Corps from 2007 to 2012.[3][4]

He was promoted to Colonel General (Sangjang) and elected an alternate member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in 2010.[3] He was promoted to chief of the General Staff Operations Bureau in late 2012, in charge of coordinating KPA corps commanders and reporting to the chief of General Staff and the Supreme Command.[citation needed]

Ri was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army in August 2013[5] as well as promoted to general around the same time.

In early February 2016, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that Ri had recently been executed on charges of corruption and forming a political faction.[6][7][8] The unconfirmed rumour was widely circulated in mass media,[9] but it was announced during the May 2016 Party Congress that Ri had been appointed a member of the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers’ Party, as well as its Central Military Commission. General Ri was named an alternate member of the Politburo.[10] As of April 2017, state media identified Ri as first deputy chief of the General Staff and director of the General Operations Bureau of the Korean People's Army.[11] At 27 July 2018 KCNA reported that the general was again promoted to 4 star general and again Chief of the General Staff of Korean People Army,[12] until 2019. After that he served as a party department director.

He was reelected to the Politburo following the 8th Party Congress in January 2021 as the new minister of Social Security. He was later moved to minister of Defense, joining also the State Affairs Commission in September of the same year.

On 22 March 2021, the Council of the European Union imposed a set of restrictive measures against Ri giving the reason for listing: "As Head of the Ministry of Social Security, Ri Yong Gil is responsible for serious human rights violations in the DPRK, in particular torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings, enforced disappearance of persons, and arbitrary arrests or detentions, as well as widespread forced labour and sexual violence against women."[13]

On 14 April 2022, he was promoted to Vice-Marshal of the KPA by the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Gen. Ri Yong Gil". North Korea Leadership Watch. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  2. ^ "North Korea leader may have replaced army chief: Analysts". Straits Times. Agence France Presse. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  3. ^ a b Gause, Ken E. (9 September 2013). "North Korean Leadership Dynamics and Decision-making under Kim Jong-un" (PDF). Center for Naval Analyses. p. 26. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  4. ^ Lim, Andy (21 April 2014). "Kim Jong-un's New Entourage" (PDF). Center for Strategic and International Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 May 2015. Alt URL
  5. ^ Ryall, Julian (30 August 2013). "Kim Jong-un purges North Korea's army chief". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  6. ^ Withnall, Adam (10 February 2016). "Kim Jong-un has reportedly just executed the chief of his own military". The Independent. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  7. ^ "North Korea 'executes' army chief of staff Ri Yong-gil". BBC News. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  8. ^ "North Korea 'executes chief of staff Ri Yong-gil', according to reports". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 10 February 2016. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  9. ^ Gale, Alastair (10 May 2016). "North Korean General, Reported Executed, Appears to Be Alive". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  10. ^ Sang-Hun, Choe (10 May 2016). "North Korean General, Thought to Be Executed, Resurfaces". New York Times. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Newstream".
  12. ^ "Yonhap News Agency".
  13. ^ "EUR-Lex - 02020R1998-20210322 - EN - EUR-Lex". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  14. ^ "Rank of KPA Vice-Marshal Conferred on Ri Yong Gil". Retrieved 2022-04-15.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Social Security
2021 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of National Defence
2021–present 		Incumbent
Military offices
Preceded by Chief of the General Staff Operations Bureau
2012–2013 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army
2013–2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army
2018–2019 		Succeeded by
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