Ri Il-hwan (, born 1960) 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, a member of the

Political Bureau A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

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 ...

(WPK). He is currently the director of the

Propaganda and Agitation Department The Propaganda and Agitation Department (PAD, ), officially translated as the Publicity and Information Department, is a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) tasked with coordinating the creation and dissemina ...

(PAD) of the party.

Early life

Ri Il-hwan was born in 1960 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 was educated at

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 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 ...

Career

Ri was commander of a " Speed Campaign" for the League of Socialist Working Youth of Korea (later Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League, KISYL) in 1992. He was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the KISYL at the fourteenth session of its eight plenary meeting on 23–25 November 1998, succeeding

Choe Ryong-hae Choe Ryong-hae (born 15 January 1950) is a North Korean politician and military officer who currently serves as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and First Vice President of the State Affairs Commission, holding ...

. He was in charge of a KISYL delegation that visited China in March 2000. During this visit, he met with President

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, an ...

on 20 March 2000. He was also tasked with South Korean president

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democra ...

's visit to the

Mangyongdae Children's Palace The Mangyongdae Children's Palace (or Mangyongdae School Children's Palace) in Pyongyang is a public facility managed by Korean Youth Corps in North Korea where Pioneer movement, pioneer members can engage in extra-curricular activities, such ...

. Ri supervised the construction of the

Youth Hero Motorway The Youth Hero Motorway (), also known as the Pyongyang–Nampo Motorway, is a expressway in North Korea that connects the cities of Pyongyang, the capital of the country, and Nampo, a city on the coast of Korea Bay in South Pyongan Province. ...

and opened it in October 2000. He was also present at groundbreaking ceremony of a 30,000-unit housing project near the motorway on 6 April 2001. In March 2001, Ri led a KISYL delegation that visited

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. He was removed from office in 2002 and was sent away for "revolutionization". Ri's next post was in the

(PAD) of the party, becoming a section chief there around 2004. From thereon until 2007, he wrote and proliferated works honoring

Ko Yong-hui Ko Yong-hui (; ; 26 June 1952 – 13 August 2004), also spelled Ko Young-hee, was the consort of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il and the mother of his successor, Kim Jong-un. Within North Korea, she is only referred to by titles, such ...

, wife of North Korean leader

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 ...

. Ri held a series of posts as section chief and deputy director in PAD and the party's General Propaganda Department, being promoted to the deputy director of PAD by 2008. In 2020, he became its full director. In 2012, Ri became the secretary tasked with publicity and information of the Pyongyang City Committee of the WPK. He took part in numerous mass rallies and presided over various public events. In 2014, Ri became the Director of the Workers and Social Organizations Department of the WPK, replacing Ri Yong-su, who was demoted following the purge of

Jang Song-thaek Jang Song-thaek (January or February 1946 – 12 December 2013) was a leading figure in the government of North Korea. He was married to Kim Kyong-hui, the only daughter of North Korean Premier Kim Il-sung and his first wife Kim Jong-suk, and o ...

. Ri Il-hwan renewed his director post at the

7th Congress of the WPK The 7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of North Korea, was held on 6–9 May 2016. Background The 7th Congress was the first Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea held since the 6th Congress in 1980. In ...

in May 2016 and was also elected member of the

Central Committee of the WPK 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 ...

. He was appointed a

Vice Chairman of the WPK A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trai ...

and a member of the

Politburo of the WPK 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 ...

at the fifth plenary session of the CC of the WPK on 28–31 December 2019. Ri was first elected to 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 ...

(SPA) in July 1998 and became a member of its Presidium in its first session in September. He was re-elected to the SPA in the 2019 election. Ri has been awarded the title of Hero of Labor in March 2001.

References

Works cited

External links

*
To Hold Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un as Head of WPK Is Firm Will of Millions of Party Members and Other People: Ri Il Hwan
,

KCNA The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946 and now features onlin ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ri, Il-hwan Members of the Supreme People's Assembly 1960 births Date of birth missing (living people) People from Pyongyang Living people 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