Kim Jae-ryong (, born 1959) 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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

n politician who served as Premier of North Korea from April 2019 to August 2020. A senior official within 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 ...

, he has served as the director of the

Organization and Guidance Department The Organization and Guidance Department (OGD) is a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of North Korea. Its central responsibility is to implement the directives and teachings of the ''Suryeo ...

since 2020 and as a deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly.

Career

Relatively little is known about Kim's early career. Before his premiership, he held positions in political guidance at various industrial sites. Around 2007, he was appointed to his first important position as the secretary of the

(WPK) North Pyongan provincial committee. He was appointed acting secretary of the WPK

Chagang Chagang Province (Chagangdo; ) is a province in North Korea; it is bordered by China's Jilin and Liaoning provinces to the north, Ryanggang and South Hamgyong to the east, South Pyongan to the south, and North Pyongan to the west. Chagang was ...

provincial committee in 2015 and from 2016 to 2019 he was officially the provincial party secretary, when he was replaced by

Kang Bong-hun Kang Bong-hun ( ko, 강봉훈) is a politician of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). He is a member of the Party Central Committee and Chagang Province Provincial Party Committee Secretary since April 2019. Biography In Ma ...

in that position. Kim became a member of the WPK Central Committee in 2016. He is also believed at one point to have held a post within the Workers' Party of Korea that oversaw

Sinuiju Sinŭiju (''Sinŭiju-si'', ; known before 1925 in English as Yeng Byen City) is a city in North Korea which faces Dandong, Liaoning, China across the international border of the Yalu River. It is the capital of North P'yŏngan province. Part of ...

and the free economic zone area of the city.

Premiership

On 10 March 2019, Kim was elected to the Supreme People's Assembly in the parliamentary election. Less than a month later, during the first session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly, Kim was appointed premier, replacing

Pak Pong-ju Pak Pong-ju (; born 10 April 1939) is a North Korean politician who served as the Premier of North Korea from 2003 to 2007 and again from 2013 to 2019. He was elected a member of the Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 2016. Earl ...

. He was also elected to be a member of the Politburo and the Central Military Commission. Kim as premier has also conducted multiple site inspections around the country from agricultural sites, factories and even to an apartment project in the capitol of

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 populat ...

. Kim was relieved of his position as premier on 13 August 2020 and replaced by

Kim Tok-hun Kim Tok-hun (, born 1961) is a North Korean politician serving as the Premier of North Korea since August 2020. He is also a full member on the Presidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea and served as the chief of the parliamenta ...

Post-premiership

Following his dismissal as premier, Kim was appointed to lead the

, and he was in charge of preparations for the 8th Party Congress, after which he maintained his seat in the Politburo. Previous claims that he had been appointed to a new body called the Organization Administrative Department appeared inconsistent with later reports indicating that another official was in charge of the newly-created department handling judicial affairs.

References

, - , - Living people 1959 births Date of birth missing (living people) Prime Ministers of North Korea Members of the Supreme People's Assembly People from Chagang Members of the 8th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Vice Chairmen of the Workers' Party of Korea and its predecessors {{NorthKorea-politician-stub