Choe Yong-rim (, born 20 November 1930) 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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

n politician who served as the

Premier of North Korea The Premier of the Cabinet () is the head of government of North Korea and a key adviser to the Supreme Leader of North Korea. The office is also alternatively known as Prime Minister of North Korea. The prime minister of North Korea is the h ...

from June 2010 to April 2013 and was a member of the

6th Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea The 6th Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), officially the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the 6th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea The 6th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) was held in the February 8 House o ...

."Profiles of Presidium and Members of Political Bureau"
, KCNA, 29 September 2010. He has been described by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as a " KWP insider" and a "friend 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 Ki ...

's family." He is honorary vice-president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, the country's parliament.

Career

Choe Yong-rim joined 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 S ...

in July 1950. He attended

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, administr ...

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

Moscow University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

. Qualifying as an electrical engineer, he has held various offices since the 1950s, including: instructor, section chief, vice-department director, first vice-department director and department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and chief secretary of the Secretaries Office of the Kumsusan Assembly Hall. He has also held posts of vice-premier of the Administration Council, director of the Central Public Prosecutors Office and secretary general of the SPA Presidium. From 11 April 2005 to July 2009, he was secretary general (''sŏgijang'') of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, succeeding Kim Yunhyŏk.
DPRKSEARCH (Korean) Choe was appointed chief secretary of the

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 populat ...

City Committee 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 ...

in 2009, taking a post left unoccupied for nine years since his predecessor Kang Hyun-su's death in 2000. He left the post when he was elected

on 7 June 2010 at the 3rd Session of the 12th

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 ...

. Choe was elected member of the 5-members 6th Presidium 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, th ...

at the Party Conference held in September 2010. Choe's adoptive daughter

Choe Son-hui Choe Son-hui (; born 10 August 1964) is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea. Previously the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, she was appointed Minister on 11 June 2022, becoming the first woman to hold the position and is one ...

is a vice minister in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...

Premiership

Choe succeeded Kim Yong-il as premier during a second

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

session in 2010. It was speculated that Kim was ousted partly because of the failed currency reforms, which took place in early 2010. According to the South Korean newspaper ''

Chosun Ilbo ''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ) is a daily newspaper in South Korea and the oldest daily newspaper in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations ...

'', he reportedly apologized publicly for the mishaps before stepping down. Kim's departure and Choe's elevation coincided with the dismissal of various other ministers in the cabinet who were ostensibly blamed for the failed reforms. The event was seen by analysts as achieving two purposes: settling public outcry over the currency valuation fiasco and engineering a political climate more favourable towards the succession of

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 ...

, the supreme leader's youngest son. In February 2011, the North Korean media reported Choe's visit to a construction site. This was the first time the media had reported on a leadership figure other than the Supreme Leader conducting a solo guidance inspection. At the 7th Session of the 12th SPA on 1 April 2013, Choe was replaced as

Pak Pong-ju Pak Pong-ju (; born 10 April 1939) is a North Korean politician who served as the Premier of North Korea from 2003 to 2007 and again from 2013 to 2019. He was elected a member of the Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 2016. Earl ...

,North Korea Leadership Watch
read 17 December 2019. as the assembly moved to the new strategy of building the economy and military simultaneously. Choe was given the title of honorary vice-president of the SPA Presidium, with Kim Yong-nam maintained as his supervisor in the President's role of the SPA.

Notes

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Choe, Yong-Rim 1930 births Living people People from Ryanggang Prime Ministers of North Korea North Korean expatriates in Russia Moscow State University alumni Members of the 6th Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Alternate members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea