North Korea's Ri Yong-gil, once rumored executed, presumed appointed as Defense Minister

Ri Young-gil, Chief of the General Staff of the North Korean People's Army. Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] It appears that Ri Yong-gil, former Minister of Social Security who was once rumored to have been executed, has been appointed as the Minister of Defense, the equivalent of South Korea's Minister of National Defense.

In photos from February 8th, when Kim Jong-un, North Korea's General Secretary, paid respects at the Kumsusan Sun Palace on the 27th anniversary of President Kim Il-sung's death, Ri Yong-gil was seen wearing a military uniform with a red trim on the general's shoulder boards, collar, and hat brim, instead of his previous Social Security Minister uniform.

Even in photos released during the personnel announcements at the 8th Party Congress in January, he was wearing the Social Security Minister uniform.

On that day, Ri Yong-gil was positioned between Kwon Young-jin, Director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, and Jeong Kyung-taek, Minister of State Security, both of whom stood in the second row where former Defense Minister Kim Jong-gwan had previously stood.

Meanwhile, Kim Jong-gwan was demoted from the rank of Vice Marshal to General and was pushed back to the fourth row during the memorial event.

It is presumed that after Kim Jong-un criticized high-ranking officials for negligence at the expanded Political Bureau meeting of the Workers' Party on January 29th, the Minister of Defense, ranked fourth in the hierarchy, was replaced from Kim Jong-gwan to Ri Yong-gil.

Ri Yong-gil was once rumored to have been executed in the South. In February 2016, when he suddenly stepped down from the Chief of the General Staff position, the National Intelligence Service, which handles intelligence on the North, released information suggesting he had been executed. However, just three months later, at the 7th Workers' Party Congress in May of that year, Ri Yong-gil was elected as a candidate member of the Party Political Bureau, demonstrating his survival. Since then, he has been repeatedly appointed and dismissed from senior military leadership positions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.