Ri Yong (
Korean: 이영;
Hanja:李英; 1 April 1889 – 13 August 1960) was a social activist in
Korea under Japanese rule
Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offic ...
, communist activist, and politician of the
Democratic People's Republic of 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 ...
.
Early life
Youth and middle age
Ri was born in Naha-daeri, Bukcheong-myeon, Bukcheong-gun, Hamgyeong-do, Korea, and spent his early childhood in Hamheung. In 1912, he traveled to
Shanghai, where he joined an independence movement. He enrolled at Nankai Business School in 1913, but dropped out in 1914, and returned to Korea.
In 1919, he participated in the March 1st Movement in Bukcheong, Hamgyeongnam-do. He was arrested, and remained in prison in Seoul until 1920. The following year, he served as a member of the Seoul Youth Association's Beginner Administrative Committee. He was again arrested in 1928, and spent four years in prison before being released in 1932.
From 1933 he held an administrative position within the Communist Party of Korea, where he rose to an advisory role in 1938.
After liberation
During the 1945 partitioning of Korea into North and South, Ri was in the American-occupied South. In December 1946, however, he traveled to the Soviet-occupied North, where he served as the deputy director of Planning at the Central People's Committee.
After the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on 9 September 1948, he was elected to the post of
Vice Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly
The vice chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly () is a member of the Supreme People's Assembly that ranks next to the Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, chairman. The SPA vice chairman is elected by the Supreme People's Assembly along w ...
of the North Korean People's Republic of Korea. On 1 December 1953, following the conclusion of the
Korean War, he was elected
Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly
The Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly () is the presiding officer of the Supreme People's Assembly, the legislature of North Korea.Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Article 94
The Supreme People's Asse ...
, and served as a member of the Supreme Council of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland.
Ri died on 13 August 1960 at the age of 71, and was buried in the Patriotic Martyrs' Tomb of North Korea.
References
External links
Doosan Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ri, Yong
1889 births
1960 deaths
Korean communists
Workers' Party of Korea politicians