Choe Thae-bok (born 1 December 1930) is a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

n politician. He is a member of the Politburo and the Secretariat of the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of ...

, and was Chairman (speaker) of the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the unicameral legislature of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of the DPRK's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year ...

for nearly 21 years, from 1998 to 2019. He was considered an advisor to

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

,Choe T’ae-pok (Choe Thae Bok)
North Korea Leadership Watch. as well as a popular member of the core leadership. He speaks fluent

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

in addition to

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

Biography

Choe Thae-bok was born in

Namp'o Nampo (North Korean official spelling: Nampho; ), also spelled Namp'o, is the second largest city by population and an important seaport in North Korea, which lies on the northern shore of the Taedong River, 15 km east of the river's mouth. ...

, South Pyongan, in 1930. He was one of the first to study at the

Mangyongdae Revolutionary School Red Flag Mangyongdae Revolutionary School is an elite school in Mangyongdae district of Pyongyang, North Korea. Established in 1947, it is a special education school with access only to the Workers' Party of Korea, Korean People's Army, administra ...

; later he studied

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

at the

Kim Il-sung University Kim Il-sung University, founded on 1 October 1946, is the first university built in North Korea. It is located on a campus in Pyongyang, the nation's capital. Along with the main academic buildings, the campus contains 10 separate offices, 50 l ...

, and later completed his studies in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

(then in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

) and

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. After his return to the DPRK he worked as schoolteacher. Later, in the 1960s, he worked at the

Hamhung Hamhŭng (''Hamhŭng-si''; ) is North Korea's second-largest List of cities in North Korea, city, and the capital of South Hamgyong, South Hamgyŏng Province. It has an estimated population of 768,551. Located in the southern part of the South Ham ...

Chemical Engineering College as researcher, director of research of the Hamhung Branch of the Chemical Research Institute under the National Academy of Sciences (1965), and finally dean of the college (1968). In 1972, he started to work as section chief at the WPK Education Department, being its vice-director from 1976.Starting from late 1970s, when he was appointed faculty dean and later president of the

Kim Chaek University of Technology Kim Chaek University of Technology is a university in North Korea, on the banks of the Taedong River in Pyongyang. It is named after General Kim Chaek. The university's programs in nuclear reactors, nuclear electronics, nuclear fuel and nuclear ...

, Choe Thae-bok took a more prominent role in the country's politics. In the 1980s he served as Chairman of the Education Commission (from 1980) and Minister of Higher Education (from 1981); in those capacities, he expanded cultural exchanges with other countries and programs to let North Korean students study abroad.Choe Thae-bok was first elected as a deputy to the

in 1982; in the same year, he led a SPA delegation to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. This was only the first time he led North Korean delegations on official visits, including a journey to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, East Germany,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

in 1984–1985.In 1984, he was appointed alternate member of the 6th Central Committee, then full member and member of the 6th Secretariat in 1986 and 6th Politburo member in 1990. As secretary, Choe Thae-bok was put in charge of education, science and cultural exchanges.Choe Thae-bok was elected chairman of the 10th, 11th and 12th SPAs, a role that increased his involvement in foreign affairs. He also served as chairman of the Korean Committee for Solidarity with the World People from 1993 to 1998. Despite his purported reformist views, he is reputedly close to Kim Jong-il's sister Kim Kyong-hui and Vice President

Yang Hyong-sop Yang Hyong-sop (1 October 1925 – 13 May 2022) was a North Korean politician who served as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly from 1983 to 1998 (from 1994 it was form ...

of the SPA Presidium. On 6 January 2007, at a mass rally in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

, he gave a speech praising the North Korean government for building nuclear weapons. On 19 October 2012, he met Zandaakhuu Enkhbold, the Mongolian parliamentary speaker, and the two countries "agreed on the future possibilities of bilateral trade and cooperation in the fields of information technology and human exchanges." ''

Choson Sinbo The ''Choson Sinbo'' (''Chosun Shinbo''), also known by the name of its English edition ''The People's Korea'', is a newspaper based in Japan, published in both Korean and Japanese. The name literally means ' Chosun (Korea) Newspaper'. It is p ...

'', a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan, said

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

is interested in exporting coal,

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

, and uranium through Rajin

Port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

because it is too "costly to rely on Chinese and Russian railway systems." In October 2017 he retired as a vice chairman of the WPK. He was then replaced as speaker of the SPA at the new legislature's first session in April 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choe, Thae-bok 1930 births Living people People from Nampo People from South Pyongan Government ministers of North Korea Members of the Supreme People's Assembly North Korean expatriates in Germany North Korean expatriates in the Soviet Union Kim Chaek University of Technology Members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Alternate members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Alternate members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Vice Chairmen of the Workers' Party of Korea and its predecessors