Kim Rak-hui (, 11 November 1933 – February 2013) was 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. Kim worked in the agricultural and cooperatives section for most of her working life. During the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, her efforts in rationing caught the attention of

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

. Many time delegate to the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), Kim Rak-hui rose in the ranks 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 ...

(WPK), becoming a full member of its Central Committee in 1970. She was appointed to the

Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea In North Korea, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), or simply the Politburo, formerly the Political Committee (1946–61), is the highest decision-making body in the ruling party between sessions ...

in 2010 and became one of six Vice Premiers of North Korea that year. She ran a committee to combat

epizootic In epizoology, an epizootic (from Greek: ''epi-'' upon + ''zoon'' animal) is a disease event in a nonhuman animal population analogous to an epidemic in humans. An epizootic may be restricted to a specific locale (an "outbreak"), general (an "epi ...

diseases. In 2012, her career started to decline as she was stripped of her Politburo membership and Vice-Premiership. Initially, it was speculated that she was caught up in personnel changes to consolidate the rule of Kim Jong-un. After it was announced that Kim Rak-hui had died in February 2013, the decline of her career was attributed to ill-health instead. Through her career, Kim was awarded Hero of Labor,

Order of Kim Il-sung The Order of Kim Il-sung () is the highest order of North Korea, along with the Order of Kim Jong-il, and only second to one honorary title, the Hero of Labour. The order, named after the country's first leader Kim Il-sung, was instituted in 1 ...

Order of Kim Jong-il The Order of Kim Jong-il () is a North Korean order named after Kim Jong-il, the former leader of North Korea. It is the highest order of North Korea, along with the Order of Kim Il-Sung, and only second to one honorary title, the Hero of Labo ...

, and

Order of the National Flag The Order of the National Flag () is the second highest order of North Korea, after the Order of Kim Il-sung and the Order of Kim Jong-il. It is the oldest order in the country, having been established in 1948, just six weeks after the North ...

(first class).

Early life

Kim Rak-hui was born in Kaechon,

South Pyongan Province South Pyongan Province (Phyŏngannamdo; ) is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Pyongan Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Korea. Its c ...

on 11 November 1933. Before her career, she graduated from the University of National Economics.

Career

Most of Kim's career was spent in agricultural cooperatives and rural management committees. During the

, she supervised food rationing and distribution. Her efforts caught the attention of the country's leader,

. After the war, she became the general manager of Ponghwa Agricultural Cooperatives in South Pyongan Province in August 1953. In the aftermath of the war, she drove rebuilding efforts on farms of the Kaechon area, for which she was awarded the title Hero of Labor in 1955. She became the chairwoman of Kaechon Ponghwa Agricultural Cooperatives in September 1962. Kim was elected a member of parliament to the Second Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) in 1957. She renewed her seat for the Third (1962), Fourth (1967), and Fifth SPAs (1972), after which she lost it until returning for the Ninth (1990),

11th 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first atteste ...

(2003) and 12th SPAs. In November 1970 Kim became a member of the

Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea The Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea ( ko, 조선로동당 중앙위원회) is the highest party body between national meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of North Korea. According to WPK rules, the ...

(WPK) at the Fifth WPK Congress. She was demoted to alternate member in October 1980 at the Sixth Party Congress. In November 1984 Kim become the municipal chairwoman of Kaesong. In April 1990 Kim was appointed the chairwoman of the South Pyongan Province Rural Managerial Committee. She was dismissed from her post in September 1997. That year she was made vice director of the WPK Agriculture Department, but continued to be an advisor to the South Pyongan committee. In June 2005 she became Chief Secretary of the South Hwanghae Provincial WPK Committee. Kim was appointed to the

in 2010 at its Third Conference, ranking 27th in the unofficial party hierarchy. Kim was appointed one of six Vice Premiers of North Korea in the third session of the 12th SPA on 7 June 2010. Her appointment was part of a reshuffle to elevate several provincial politicians to important posts in the Cabinet of North Korea. During her Vice-Premiership, she made multiple public appearances and ran a Cabinet committee to prevent the outbreak of

diseases like the foot-and-mouth disease. The Cabinet also conferred on her the title of its honorary councilor. After Kim Il-sung died in 1994, Kim Rak-hui was on his funeral committee. She was on a similar committee of

O Jin-u O Jin-u (March 8, 1917 – February 25, 1995) was a North Korean general and politician. He served with Kim Il-sung's partisan unit and eventually rose through the ranks of the North Korean Army. He distinguished himself during the Korean War an ...

the following year. She was number 24 on the committee of

Jo Myong-rok Jo Myong-lok (12 July 1928 – 6 November 2010) was a North Korean military officer who held the military rank Chasu (Vice Marshal). In 1998, he was appointed First Vice-Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, Director ...

. In 2011, she appeared on the committee for the funeral of Kim Jong-il, ranked 21 highest.

Decline and death

Kim was last seen in public in early March 2012 at an International Women's Day event. By the course of the year, the 5th session of the 12th SPA in April removed her from the office of Vice Premier, and the

4th Conference of the Workers' Party of Korea Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

removed her from the Politburo. It was speculated that the decline of her career was due to efforts to consolidate the rule of Kim Jong-un by personnel changes. For instance, North Korea expert Alexandre Mansourov counted her among "holdovers who failed to secure Kim's trust or demonstrate their value". After

North Korean media The mass media in North Korea is amongst the most strictly controlled in the world. The constitution nominally provides for freedom of speech and the press. However, the government routinely disregards these rights, and seeks to mold informatio ...

reported on 18 February 2013 that Kim Rak-hui had died, her demotions were attributed to health issues instead. Kim Jong-un sent a floral basket to her funeral. During her life, she had been awarded, in addition to Labor of Hero, the following: