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Ri Man-gon (born 1945) is a North Korean politician who served as Director of the Organization and Guidance Department and Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea from 2019 to 2020. He was formerly a member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea and director of munitions and military. He was a "supervisor of the department for the nuclear and missile development".

Career

Ri served as a deputy director of the Organization and Guidance Department from 2007 to 2010, when he was appointed chief secretary of the North Pyongan Provincial Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and gained a seat in the party's Central Committee. He was transferred to Pyongyang in 2015 and promoted to party vice-chairman, Politburo member and director of the Munitions Department at the 7th Congress in May 2016. This concurred with his promotion to the newly created State Affairs Commission, and he was also included in the Central Military Commission. He returned to the OGD in October 2017 as its first deputy director, before moving up as department director on 9 April 2019.

He was not present at an October 7, 2017 mass rally in Pyongyang and an October 11, 2017 celebration for the anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea. According to a South Korean think tank, "There's little chance that Ri and Kim have been dismissed or purged because they've been praised for major achievements recently." and "It's highly likely that they were absent because they'd been given an important assignment."

On 28 February 2020 the Politburo resolved to remove Ri as party vice-chairman, and OGD director, following a publicized corruption scandal that involved units under the OGD.

On June 17, 2020, it was revealed that Ri Man-gon was in charge of the Pyongyang General Hospital project and was the project's head person in charge. He was given the post despite the corruption investigation that occurred at the OGD which showed that he still held the trust of Kim Jong Un as he was given an important assignment. He appeared among retired officials during celebrations for the party's 75th founding anniversary.

References

1. "Sanctions List Search - Ri Man-Gon". US Treasury. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
2. What the new photos of North Korea's leaders say. BBC News, 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
3. "Mysterious absence of North Korea's 'rocket men' raises new nuke, missile fears". MSN/Fox News. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
4. Kim Myong-song (11 October 2017). "N.Korea's Key 'Rocket Men' Absent from Major Events". Chosun. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
5. "Political Bureau Meeting Held". North Korea Leadership Watch. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
6. "North Korean state media pushes anti-corruption line following Politburo meeting". NK News. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
7. "Ri Man Gon reappears as Pyongyang General Hospital project head". 17 June 2020.

• Biography
• North Korea
• Politics
• Communism

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