Name   Ri Yong-mu
Sex   Male
Date of Birth   1923
Place of Birth    
Posts Held Vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, cadre of the Korean Workers’ Party, deputy commander-in-chief of the People’s Army, member of the 10th and 11th Supreme People’s Assemblies
Claim to Fame Military general
Education  
Profile Ri Yong-mu is vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, the most powerful government body in North Korea. He is said to have the complete trust of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

As a lieutenant general in 1964, he was named first deputy chief for general politics in the People’s Defense Bureau. He later became a cadre of the Korean Workers’ Party’s Central Committee before receiving a promotion to colonel general. In 1974, he took over the general political bureau of the People’s Army and was made a political cadre of the committee. After three years, however, he was demoted and sent to Ryanggang Province as his fast rise came to a halt. He was held responsible for negligence in managing a special attack unit of female troops.

Making a comeback in 1985, Lee was named vice president of the province’s legislature and returned to Pyongyang four years later as a committee cadre and the head of the National Censorship Bureau. He received the honor of Hero of Labor in 1998, but his appointment as deputy commander-in-chief of the People’s Army and vice chairman of the National Defense Commission were bigger prizes.

Sources say he is overweight and has a fiery tempered.
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