Name   Ri Yong-chol Sex   Male Date of Birth   1930 (Unconfirmed) Place of Birth     Posts Held First deputy chief of the organizational bureau of the Korean Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, cadre of the party’s Central and Military Committees, member of the 10th and 11th Supreme People’s Assemblies Claim to Fame Military general Education   Profile Ri Yong-chol is a close acquaintance of Kim Jong-il’s second wife, Ko Yong-hui. Kim is said to greatly trust Ri, who is known as soft-spoken but shrewd strategist. After serving as strategy chief for the People’s Armed Forces Ministry, he entered the Korean Workers’ Party as investigative chief in 1986. He was named first deputy chief of the organizational bureau of the party’s Central Committee in 1994 and a cadre of the party’s Military Committee in 1996. Ri is among five figures to have rapidly risen to the top during the Kim Jong-il era.

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