Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

Ri Yong-ho (; 5 October 1942 – ) 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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

n military officer who was

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Af ...

of the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Sec ...

from 2009 to 2012, as well as a member of the

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. Communist states In Communist states the presidi ...

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 ...

from September 2010 to July 2012.

Early life and education

Born in

Tongchon T'ongch'ŏn County is a ''kun'', or county, in Kangwŏn province, North Korea. It abuts the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea) to the north and east. Famous people from T'ongch'ŏn include Hyundai Founder Chung Ju-yung, who is believed to have be ...

County, Kangwon Province on 5 October 1942, Ri Yong-ho joined the

in August 1959. He graduated from the

Kim Il-sung Military University Kim Il-sung Military University (also known as Kim Il-sung Military Academy) is a university located in Mangyongdae-guyok, Pyongyang, capital of North Korea. Founded in 1948 and named after Kim Il-sung, the school is a post-secondary educational ...

Career

After graduation, Ri Yong-ho worked as chief of staff of a division, director of the operations department of an army corps, head of a training center, vice-director of the operations department of the general staff, its deputy chief and head of a training center of the KPA. He was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in 2002, and served as commander of the

Pyongyang Defense Command The Pyongyang Defence Command ( ko, 평양방위사령부), also known as the Pyongyang Defense Corps is a military area and corps of the Korean People's Army based out of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. The PDC is composed of 70,000 ...

from 2003-09. He became a rising star in 2003 as a result of his appointment as the head of the military unit guarding the capital city and the Kim family. He was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the KPA in February 2009."Profiles of Presidium and Members of Political Bureau"
, KCNA, 29 September 2010. He was elected a member of the Presidium of the Politburo 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 ...

as well as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission at the Party Conference held on 28 September 2010. He was also promoted to Vice Marshal immediately before the Conference. Afterwards, he appeared jointly with

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 ...

on several occasions, and he gave the keynote speech during the military parade in October celebrating the WPK's 65th anniversary. In December 2011, he and leader

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 ...

led the funeral procession through the streets of Pyongyang after the

death of Kim Jong-il The death of Kim Jong-il was reported by North Korean state television news on 19 December 2011. The presenter Ri Chun-hee announced that he had died on 17 December at 8:30 am of a massive heart attack while travelling by train to an area ou ...

. Ri led a parade on 25 April 2012, marking the 80th anniversary of the foundation of the North Korean military.

Dismissal and possible death

On 16 July 2012, North Korean state media reported Ri Yong-ho had been relieved of all his Party duties, namely his Presidium Committee membership, Politburo membership, and Party Central Military Commission vice-chairmanship, stating this move was due to unspecified illness. A spokesman for the South Korean

Ministry of Unification The Ministry of Unification is an executive department of the South Korean government aimed at promoting Korean reunification. It was first established in 1969 as the ''National Unification Board'', under the rule of Park Chung-hee. It gained its ...

said the move was "very unusual". The meeting at which his removal was announced was attended by the entire Presidium, Politburo members and candidate members, making ill health seem implausibly minor. Ri was replaced by

Hyon Yong-chol Hyon Yong-chol (; January 11, 1949 – rumored April 30, 2015) was a North Korean general and Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) politician. He served as Minister of Defence from 2014 to 2015. In 2015, he was reportedly removed from his post. Perso ...

in the role of the Chief of the General Staff. On 20 July 2012, unconfirmed reports from North Korea alleged that Ri had died or been injured in a firefight with

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 ...

troops. In November 2012, the South Korean media reported that Ri was believed to be under house arrest. A 2015 report stated that Ri Yong-ho had been executed in 2012. Some reports suggest that this may mark a shift in power between the political leadership and the armed forces, with the political leadership in the ascendant.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ri, Yong-ho 1942 births 2012 deaths North Korean generals People from Tongchon County Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea