State media clarifies Ri Son Gwon Status
WPK Central Committee Department Director Ri Son Gwon delivers remarks to a special banquet for students performing artists from Japan in Pyongyang on 9 January 2025 (Photo: KCNA).
DPRK state media has identified Ri Son Gwon (Ri So’n-kwon) as a Workers’ Party of Korea [WPK] Central Committee Director. During a 9 January banquet hosted for the student performing arts troupe representing Ch’ongryo’n (Chosen Soren), Ri was identified as a WPK Central Committee Department Director. Ri’s official position was ambiguous due to the fact that he previously served as director of the WPK United Front Department.
In 2024 UFD was downgraded to Central Committee Bureau #10 in line with North Korea’s strategic policy change on reunification with the South. On 2 January 2025, Ri Son Gwon was the responsible official briefing Kim Jong Un (KJU; Kim Cho’ng-u’n) at a photo-op with student performing artists indicating that despite UFD’s downgrade some of his UFD job responsibilities such handling relations with Korean diaspora organizations remained.
