Ri Hong-sop (리홍섭,born 1940) 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 scientist. Ri is a former director of the

Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center The Nyongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center is North Korea's major nuclear facility, operating its first nuclear reactors. It is located in Nyongbyon County in North Pyongan Province, about 100 km north of Pyongyang. The center produc ...

. In 2005 he served on the program committee of the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

's Nuclear Energy and Security (NUSEC) conference in

Salzburg, Austria Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

. According to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, Ri has played a "key role in the ... PRK'snuclear program”. In January 2016 Ri, along with a fellow associate in the nuclear weapons program

Hong Sung-mu Hong Sung-mu (, born 1 January 1942) is a North Korean nuclear weapons scientist and a Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) official working with North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and space programs. He is the deputy director of the party's Mac ...

, was the first in line to receive a medal from

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

for success in the January 2016 nuclear test. The two men are collectively known as North Korea's "nuclear duo".

References

1940 births Living people North Korean scientists 20th-century North Korean scientists 21st-century North Korean scientists Members of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea {{NorthKorea-bio-stub