Ri Thae-nam ( ko, 리태남; February 26, 1938 – 2013) was a North Korean politician who was

Vice Premier of North Korea The Vice Premier of the Cabinet assists the Premier of North Korea in guiding the work of the Cabinet of North Korea. The office is also alternatively known as Deputy Prime Minister of North Korea. First Vice Premier The First Vice Premier of t ...

between 2010 and 2011. He was a candidate for 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 as well as member of 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 ...

, North Korea's

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

parliament.

Biography

Ri Tae Nam was born on March 26, 1938, in

Yomju County Yŏmju County is a ''kun'', or county, in northwestern North P'yŏngan province, North Korea, on the coast of the Yellow Sea. It is bordered by Ryongch'ŏn and P'ihyŏn to the north, Tongrim to the east, and Ch'ŏlsan to the south; to the west ...

, North Pyongan Province. A graduate of the Higher Mechanical School in Pyongyang. At the beginning of his professional career he worked as an engineer in the metallurgical industry. From the late 1970s and 1980s, he was the secretary of party organizations at the refinery of two steelworks from 1978 at the refinery in the city of

Kaesong Kaesong (, ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close t ...

, from July 1982 at the steelworks in

Kangso Kangsŏ is a ward in Namp'o Special City, South P'yŏngan province, North Korea. The population is 191,356. Administrative divisions Kangsŏ-guyŏk is divided into 14 ''tong'' (neighbourhoods) and 6 ''ri'' (villages): Transport Kangsŏ-guyŏ ...

, and from June 1986 at the steelworks Ch'ŏllima in the city of Nampo, with which he was also associated after leaving the factory. From January 1987, he was the secretary of the district party structures in the Ch'ŏllima district of

Nampo Nampo (North Korean official spelling: Nampho; ), also spelled Namp'o, is the second largest city by population and an important seaport in North Korea, which lies on the northern shore of the Taedong River, 15 km east of the river's mouth. ...

. In 1992–1995 he worked in the municipal authorities of Nampo, where he dealt with economic affairs. From January 1996 to September 2003, he was Secretary of the WPK South Hamgyong Provincial Committee, and from September 2003 to June 2010, Secretary of the WPK South Pyongan Provincial Committee. At that time he also became the Vice Premier in the

Cabinet of North Korea The Cabinet of North Korea (''Naegak'') is, according to the Constitution of North Korea, the administrative and executive body and a general state-management organ in the Government of North Korea. The Cabinet's principal newspaper is ''Minju C ...

, which he remained until April 2011. A deputy of the

during the

9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

10th 10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The rea ...

and

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 attested i ...

convocations, he sat on the SPA Budget Committee in the last two terms. In March 2009 (while still being the head of the WPK in the South Pyongan Province), he became the secretary of the party organization at the Sungni Mechanical Vehicles Plant in the city of

Tokchon Tŏkch'ŏn () is a ''si'', or city, in northern South P'yŏngan province, North Korea. It is bordered by Nyŏngwŏn and Maengsan to the east, Kujang county in North P'yŏngan province to the north, Kaech'ŏn to the west and Pukch'ang to the s ...

in the

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 ca ...

. Pursuant to the provisions of the

3rd Conference of the Workers' Party of Korea The 3rd Conference of the Workers' Party of Korea was held in Pyongyang on September 28, 2010. The meeting elected the highest authority of the Workers' Party of Korea, and revised the party charter. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il also attended the ...

, on September 28, 2010, he was elected a candidate member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee.“당대표자회, 40년대 해방전후 차세대 기수 전면 등장”. 통일뉴스. 2011년 10월 4일에 확인함.
/ref> After the death of

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 ...

in December 2011, Ri T'ae Nam was in a high, 28th place in the 232-person Funeral Committee. He was awarded the Order of Kim Il Sung in April 1992 and Order of Kim Jong Il in February 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ri, Thae-nam 1938 births 2013 deaths Members of the Supreme People's Assembly Deputy prime ministers Alternate members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea