Choe Ryong-hae

Korean spelling
Chosŏn'gŭl	최룡 해
Hancha	崔龍海
Revised Romanization	Choe Ryong-hae
McCune- Reischauer	Ch'oe Ryonghae
See also : Korean name

Choe Ryong-hae at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games

Choe Ryong-hae (born January 15, 1950 in Sinch'ŏn-gun, Hwanghae-namdo ) is the official head of state of North Korea , he is a member of the Labor Party of Korea (PdAK), Deputy Marshal of the Korean People's Army (KVA), head of the political Headquarters of the KVA, member of the Presidium of the Politburo of the Central Committee (ZK) of the PdAK and member of the Committee for State Affairs of the DPR Korea . As head of the political headquarters of the KVA, he is responsible for the political management of the armed forces with regard to personnel decisions, monitoring and management as well as for their political education and cultural activities. As a member of the second generation of North Korean politicians, he had known the former First Secretary of the PDAK Kim Jong-il for more than fifty years and has or had numerous political and social connections to leading politicians in the country such as Kim Kyŏng-hŭi and her husband Chang Sung- taek . In the 1980s and 1990s he played a leading role in consolidating the successor role of Kim Jong-ils, building up his political support and as chairman of the socialist youth organization "Kim Il-sung" .

Life

Chairman of the Youth Union and First Party Secretary of Hwanghae-pukto Province

Choe Ryong-hae is a son of Choe Hyon, who served under Kim Il-sung in the 88th  Brigade in the late 1930s and was Minister for the People's Armed Forces and Vice-Chairman of the National Defense Commission from December 1968 to May 1976. After attending the Revolutionary School of Mangyŏngdae , an elite school for the children of deceased revolutionary fighters as well as top politicians and senior military personnel, he began studying at Kim Il-sung University . After graduating, he stayed at Kim Il-sung University and worked there as a party instructor.

In 1980 Choe moved to the Socialist Youth Association "Kim Il-sung", where he was initially director of the cultural exchange program before he became vice-chairman of the youth association in 1981. In these functions he traveled to the People's Republic of China , the Soviet Union , Japan , Libya and Greece . In 1986 he finally became chairman of the socialist youth organization "Kim Il-sung" and also a member of the Central Committee of the PdAK. In addition, he became a deputy of the Supreme People's Assembly and a member of its Presidium.

At the beginning of the 1990s, Choe also took over functions in sports associations and thus became Chairman of the North Korean Football Association in 1990 and Chairman of the Taekwondo Youth Association in 1991 . After the youth associations were merged at the beginning of this period and the administrative hierarchy was changed, he became First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Youth Association "Kim Il-sung" and held this position until he was dismissed in 1998 for health reasons.

Choe Ryong-hae subsequently served as the deputy head of the Central Committee's General Affairs Department and then between 2006 and 2010 as the first secretary of the PdAK of Hwanghae-pukto Province . After Chang Sung-taek was elected vice chairman of the National Defense Commission in June 2010, three Pyongyang administrative districts were assigned to Hwanghae-pukto Province, making his position as the provincial party leader more important. Shortly afterwards, in August 2010, he was part of the delegation that accompanied Kim Jong-Il on his state visit to the People's Republic of China, alongside Chang Sung-taek.

Vice-Marshal and Head of the Main Political Department of the People's Army

On September 28, 2010, Choe Ryong-hae was promoted to general of the Korean People's Army at the Labor Party Conference on the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Labor Party of Korea . At the 3rd party conference of the PdAK, he was then appointed a member of the Central Committee's Secretariat, a candidate for the Central Committee's Politburo and a member of the Central Military Committee of the Central Committee.

In April 2012, Choe was promoted to Vice-Marshal and immediately afterwards elected at the 4th party conference of the PdAK as a member of the Presidium of the Politburo and as Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Committee of the Central Committee. After the party conference ended, state media reported that he had been appointed head of the Political Department of the Korean People's Army. This position has not been filled since the death of Vice-Marshal Jo Myong-rok on November 6, 2010.

At the fifth session of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly on April 13, 2012, Choe Ryong-hae was finally elected a member of the National Defense Commission.

For the first time since Kim Jong-un took office in 2010 , high-ranking government representatives from both countries met with Choe Ryong-hae and the director of the international department of the Chinese Central Committee, Wang Jiarui, during the North Korea crisis on May 22, 2013 in Beijing.

In a report by the official news agency KCNA on the official celebrations on May 1, 2014, party functionary Hwang Pyong So was named as head of the Politburo of the Korean People's Army - and no longer Choe Ryong Hae.

In April 2019, Choe was elected as the successor to Kim Yŏng-nam as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK and is thus protocol head of state of the country.

Web links

• Biography in North Korea Leadership Watch

Individual evidence

1. ↑ North Korea wants to win back China's favor. zeit.de, May 22, 2013, accessed on May 22, 2013 . 
2. ↑ North Korea: Kim exchanges his number two ; Spiegel Online, May 2, 2014
3. ↑ Deputy of Kim Jong Un: North Korea has a new head of state ; Spiegel Online, April 12, 2019

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Choe is the family name here, Ryong-hae is the first name.