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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

n politician who served as the

Premier of North Korea The premier of North Korea, officially the premier of the Cabinet of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is the head of government of North Korea and leader of the North Korean Cabinet. The premier is officially appointed by the Supre ...

from June 2010 to April 2013 and was a member of the 6th Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea."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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as a " KWP insider" and a "friend of

Kim Jong-Il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his death in 2011, when he was ...

's family." He is honorary vice-president of the

Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the legislature of North Korea. It is ostensibly the highest organ of state power and the only branch of government in North Korea, with all state organs subservient to it under the principle of unified ...

, the country's parliament.

Career

Choe Yong-rim joined the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) encompasses the combined military forces of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). The KPA consists of five branches: the Korean People's Army Ground Force, Ground Force, the Ko ...

in July 1950. He attended Mangyongdae Revolutionary School,

Kim Il-sung University Kim Il Sung University () is a public university in Taesong, Pyongyang, North Korea. It was founded on 1 October 1946 and was the first tertiary education institution established in post-war North Korea. The 15-hectare campus, along with the m ...

, and

Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

. 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

, succeeding Kim Yunhyŏk. DPRKSEARCH (Korean) Choe was appointed chief secretary of the

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

City Committee of the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

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 legislature of North Korea. It is ostensibly the highest organ of state power and the only branch of government in North Korea, with all state organs subservient to it under the principle of unified ...

. 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 is the Central committee, highest organ between National meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea, national meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of North Korea. Accor ...

at the Party Conference held in September 2010. Choe's adoptive daughter Choe Son-hui is the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Premiership

Choe succeeded Kim Yong-il as premier during a second

parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

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'' (, ), also known as ''The Chosun Daily,'' is a Korean-language newspaper of record for South Korea and among the oldest active newspapers in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, ''The'' ''Chosun Ilbo ...

'', 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 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...

, 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

by Pak Pong-ju,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 Kim Yong-nam (; born 4 February 1928) is a North Korean retired politician who served as the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, from 1998 until 2019. Due to holding the office, he was considered the hea ...

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 Province Prime ministers of North Korea Vice premiers 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