Ri Chun-hee (also

romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

as Ri Chun Hee or Ri Chun Hui; , Pyojuneo: 이춘희 ; born 8 July 1943) is a North Korean news anchor for

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 broadcaster

Korean Central Television Korean Central Television (KCTV; ) is a North Korean television service operated by the Korean Central Broadcasting Committee, a state-owned broadcaster in North Korea. It is broadcast terrestrially via the Pyongyang TV Tower in Moranbong-g ...

. She is most notable for her characteristic emotional and sometimes vitriolic tone, described as "passionate", "vaguely menacing", and "aggressive". She announced her retirement in 2012, but still occasionally presents major news, especially involving the activities 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 ...

Early life and education

Ri was born in 1943 to a poor family in Tongchon in Gangwon, Japanese Korea. Ri studied

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

at Pyongyang University of Dramatic and Cinematic Arts and was recruited as a newsreader by KCTV.

Career

Ri began work onscreen in February 1971, became chief news presenter of KCTV and was consistently on‑air from the mid-1980s onwards. Her career was unique for its longevity; while many at KCTV were demoted or purged, her career was never interrupted. When she announced her retirement in January 2012, she told Chinese media that she would be working behind the scenes and training a new generation of broadcasters. The UK's ''Daily Telegraph'' commented that she had been "entrusted with announcing great moments in North Korean history". American journalist and author

Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for ''The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the honorific title of associate editor though the Post no longer employs ...

referred to her as North Korea's

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...

in his 2018 book '' Fear: Trump in the White House''. Ri sometimes comes out of retirement to announce major news stories. She announced North Korea's claim to have carried out an H-bomb detonation in January 2016 and a missile launch in February 2016. She also announced the nuclear tests of September 2016, September 2017 and the missile test in November 2017. Later, she announced the suspension of North Korean nuclear and intercontinental ballistic testing in April 2018 and the Singapore summit between Kim and Donald Trump in June 2018. On April 15, 2018, Ri read a report that named Kim Jong Un's wife, Ri Sol-ju, as the " First Lady" for the first time. In 2022, Kim gave luxury houses to Ri and other North Korean elites. Ri narrated a state media video of Kim giving her a tour of her new Pyongyang home. Ri later said her new home is "like a hotel", adding her and her family "stayed up all night in tears of deep gratitude for the party's benevolence".

Style

Ri is known for her melodramatic announcing style. She often speaks in a wavering and exuberant tone when praising the nation's leaders, and conversely with visible anger when denouncing its enemies. According to Brian Reynolds Myers, a professor at Dongseo University and an expert in North Korean propaganda, her training in drama serves her well, given the large amount of showmanship that is typical of North Korean broadcasting. During the official announcement of Kim Il Sung's death in 1994, Ri was visibly crying during the broadcast. Likewise, when she announced Kim Jong Il's death in 2011, she was seen holding back tears. Ri usually appears wearing either a pink Western-style

suit A suit, also called a lounge suit, business suit, dress suit, or formal suit, is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles generally worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt su ...

or in a traditional Korean joseon-ot. She is nicknamed the "Pink Lady" and "North Korean News Lady". The Greek satirical TV show Radio Arvyla occasionally uses footage of Ri to satirize local Greek news.

Early life and education

Career

Style

See also

References

Further reading