Name   Ri Gun-mo Sex   Male Date of Birth   April 5, 1926 Place of Birth   South Pyongan Province Posts Held Senior secretary of the Korean Workers’ Party’s chapter in North Hamkyong Province, cadre of the party’s Central Committee, member of the 10th Supreme People’s Assembly Claim to Fame Technocrat Education Kim Il Sung University, bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Leningrad Institute of Engineering (St. Petersburg) Profile Ri Gun-mo is a technocrat who received a technical education in the former Soviet Union. From 1986 to 1988, he was premier of the State Administration Council but the failure of the North Korean economy forced his relegation to senior secretary of the Korean Workers’ Party’s chapter in North Hamkyong Province. Back in 1958, he was named deputy chief of the party’s Central Committee and got promoted to cadre candidate in 1961 and chief of the committee’s machinery industry bureau in 1964. In 1968, he took over as machinery industry minister and then headed the committee’s heavy industry bureau a year later. In 1981, he filled a number of key posts in the party and cabinet including vice premier of the State Administration Council and chief of the collection industry bureau. Well-versed in economics, he greatly contributed to normalizing an iron mill in the port city of Nampo. Though Kim Jong-il has lauded Ri’s accomplishments, the North’s supreme leader is said to have little trust in him. Ri is lame in one leg and known for his gentlemanly behavior, but is also considered hesitant and timid.

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