Senior DPRK elite Ri Chol (Photos: KCTV screengrab, UN, Yonhap).
Ri Chol (Ri Ch’o'l), a close aide to Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) and member of the DPRK’s core leadership, departed Pyongyang on 26 October (Saturday) for China at the head of a delegation of the DPRK Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office (f.k.a. the DPRK Central Public Prosecutor’s Office). Ri was identified as the Vice (deputy) Director of the Prosector’s Office, one of the job titles Ri has used for over a decade. Ri Chol attended secondary school and Kim Il Sung University with the late leader Kim Jong Il (Kim Cho’ng-il). For two decades Ri served as the DPRK’s ambassador to Switzerland and the UN Mission Geneva (among other nonresident diplomatic missions). During his tenure in Switzerland, Ri was the country’s regional manager of its other embassies and diplomatic missions in Europe. He was also responsible for a number of personal matter for Kim Jong Il including the management and administration of the Kim Family’s finances deposited in European banks and acting in loco parentis for KJI’s children when they attended school in Switzerland. Ri has close, personal ties to Kim Jong Un and a number of core DPRK elites. As one of the country’s chief policymakers, Ri holds several concurrent positions in the DPRK Government and Korean Workers’ Party including Vice Chairman of the Joint Venture and Investment Commission [JVIC], Vice Chairman of the Central Broadcasting Committee and senior deputy (1st vice) director of the KWP Organization Guidance Department.
Filed under: Administration Department, Central Broadcasting Committee, Central Committee, central party life, communications, critical infrastructure, diploreps, DPRK Cabinet, DPRK Diplomat Corps, DPRK External Relations, DPRK Intelligence Community, DPRK Legal System, DPRK Supreme Prosecutor's Office (DPRK Central Public Prosecutor's Office), Guard Command, internal security, Jang Song-thaek, JVIC, Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un, Kim Sol Song (Kim Sul Song), KJI Personal Secretariat, KJI-Ko Yong Hui Family, KKH, Korea Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Committee, Korean Workers' Party (KWP), Mangyo'ngdae Revolutionary School Alumni, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Trade, National Defense Commission (NDC), NDC Administration Department, North Korean press, Organization and Guidance Department, State Planning Commission (SPC), Third Floor