Why North Korea replaced its ambassador to China after 11 years
North Korea recently appointed a former trade minister as its new ambassador to China, entrusting him with the crucial mission of reviving trade with the country’s closest ally amid deepening COVID-19 woes.
According to the North’s Foreign Ministry on Feb. 19, Ri Ryong-nam, 61, will be replacing Ji Jae-ryong, 79, who has served as the top envoy to Beijing since 2010.
Ri served as trade minister from 2008 to 2016, during which time the Trade Ministry was renamed the External Economic Affairs Ministry. Until recently, he had served as deputy premier handling foreign trade.
His face may be familiar to many in the South. During the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang in 2018, he was seen meeting with 17 chaebol leaders, including Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, to discuss business cooperation projects.
His elite background also draws attention. He is a nephew of Ri Myong-su, a former army chief and a close aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Currently, he doubles as an alternate member of the Politburo, the ruling Workers’ Party’s top policymaking body.
Still, he is a rare case as an economic official to become the ambassador to all-important China in the North.
“Ri may have little experience in foreign affairs but is highly credited with developing trade with China. His appointment as a top envoy reflects how much emphasis the North is putting on resuming trade with China,” said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification.
Hong added that Ri boasts extensive connections with economic officials in China.
“He can communicate with the Chinese authorities more directly, more quickly,” he said.
The coronavirus pandemic is taking a heavy toll on the North Korean economy, which was already hobbled by international sanctions and communist mismanagement. With the border sealed to ward off the virus, trade with China -- which accounted for 95 percent of the nation’s total trade volume -- shrank even further.
Over the past year, the North’s trade with China plummeted 80.7 percent to $540 million, according to the Seoul-based Korea International Trade Association. It was a sharper fall than in 2017, when the trade with China was cut in half amid toughened sanctions in response to its nuclear weapons tests.
Cash flow also dried up as popular exports like wigs, watches and shoes have fallen the most, not to mention the suspended visits of Chinese tourists, another key pillar of the North’s revenue sources.
With no immediate signs of recovery in trade with China, KITA predicted that trade between the two neighbors could resume for essential items like food and medicines as part of a quarantine partnership, depending on the pandemic’s trajectory.
Hong also said the appointment of a new ambassador to China offers some clues to the North’s pending reopening of its border, though it will probably happen in phases.
“During the border shutdown, the North has secured vaccines, about 1.99 million doses, with more coming through China or Russia. While nations around the world are striving to achieve herd immunity by the first half of this year, the North is also likely to ease quarantine measures in the coming months, reopening the border with China,” he said.
In the meantime, Beijing recently announced the replacement of its Pyongyang ambassador after six years. Wang Yajun, 51, a senior official of the ruling Communist Party, who served as deputy head of the party’s International Liaison Department of the Central Committee, will take up the office.
Considering diplomatic courtesy, the two neighbors are likely to have discussed the replacement of their ambassadors before the official announcements.
By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)
相关推荐
-
Pakistan Cricket at crossroads after shock defeat at Pindi
-
New Zealand hails 'incredible' Games after record medals haul
-
2024广东乡村歌手大赛地市赛区邀请函速递→丨赛事指南①
-
Military to send medics to civilian clinic for MERS efforts
-
Aricell CEO arrested in first case under industrial accidents law
-
Defense chief orders robust posture of intelligence, cybersecurity forces
- 最近发表
-
- Military prosecutors indict intel official over leaking 'black agent' info
- Google is killing SMS support for Hangouts
- People are devastated over the closure of one of London's most
- Chinese ship might have to pay $120 million in Great Barrier Reef clean
- 14 Heists, Robberies, and Other Great Capers
- S. Korea reports sixth death from MERS, 23 new cases
- Thank you for ending the war between Kim Kardashian and Chloë Grace Moretz, Hillary Clinton
- 规范支付业务 保障消费者权益
- Washington Mystics vs. Chicago Sky 2024 livestream: Watch live WNBA
- S. Korea forms MERS task force on national image
- 随机阅读
-
- Bernie Sanders’ DNC speech sounded like everyone else’s. That’s astonishing.
- Athlete's daredevil wheelchair stunt officially opens the 2016 Paralympic Games
- 银行加速清理“睡眠卡”持卡人还须留意自身账户安全
- Park to delegate full authority to medical experts over MERS
- N. Korea test
- U.S. moves closer to THAAD's permanent stationing in Guam
- Google is killing SMS support for Hangouts
- The Galaxy S8's iris scanner fixes the one thing that made it suck on the Note 7
- 两个改造提升项目进入收尾阶段
- Google is killing SMS support for Hangouts
- Messi's 20
- The new head of the White House Office of American Innovation has never tweeted
- SCOTUS: The courts implementing Project 2025, without Trump.
- Dehydration is on trend, according to Kanye West's latest fashion show
- Busquets 'trying to digest' Messi departure
- 我市开通至西藏林芝客运班车
- 17 Spectacular Outdoor Staircases
- PSG make winning start as Messi arrival looms
- Aston Villa sign forward Danny Ings from Southampton
- The creators of the world's most hated font still love it
- 搜索
-
- 友情链接
-