Jo Yong-won (, born 1957) is a North Korean politician and a deputy chief 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 ...

(WPK)'s

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

of General Secretary

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 ...

. He was a vice director of the WPK

Organization and Guidance Department The Organization and Guidance Department (OGD), or the Organizational Leadership Department (Official translation in North Korea) created in 1946, is a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of ...

(OGD). Jo was also a full member of the 7th Central Committee of the WPK since it was elected at the 7th Congress of the WPK in May 2016. Jo has been a member of the

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some countries' political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. The term is also sometimes used for the ...

of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

, and a secretary of the

of the WPK since it was elected at the 8th WPK Central Committee in January 2021. Jo appears to serve as the First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea making him formally the principal day-to-day leader of the party second only to Kim Jong Un. Jo is a confidant of the country's leader,

, and accompanies him often on guidance tours, mostly in relation to economy. In 2016 he was the most frequent member of Kim's entourage. According to ''

NK News NK News is an American subscription-based news website that provides stories and analysis about North Korea. Established in 2011, it is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea with reporters in Washington, D.C., and London. Reporting is based on in ...

'', Jo was "once described as a 'rising star' of DPRK politics ndremains one of the country's most important officials." Jo is often featured in North Korean media; in 2018 his name was mentioned more often than that of any other official except Kim Jong Un. In March 2021 in Pyongyang, Jo "sharply censured the shortcomings" of WPK city and county level cadre, calling out their "deviations of failing to properly apply our Party's people-first politics."

Sanctions and travel ban

In January 2017, the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

sanctioned Jo for his involvement in the censorship activities of the OGD. In June 2017, Jo was singled out in Annex 1 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2356, which placed an international travel ban and asset freeze on him.

References

Living people 1957 births Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Members of the 8th Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea Alternate members of the 7th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea {{NorthKorea-politician-stub

Sanctions and travel ban

See also

References