Ri Je-gang (1930 – 2 June 2010) was a North Korean politician.^[2]

Career

Ri studied at Kim Il-sung University. He was elevated to the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 1973 as head of the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD); Kim Jong-il's takeover of the bureau later that year set the stage for his friendship with Ri. He became a deputy chief of the same bureau as well as Kim's personal secretary in 1982; he was elevated to first deputy chief in 1999.^[3] He had a long rivalry with Jang Sung-taek.^[2]

Ri reportedly directed many of the purges of senior government officials which took place during Kim Jong-il's reign. Ri reportedly imposed capital punishment on many of those purged, in spite of recommendations from his subordinates for lesser punishments such as reeducation.^[4]

Death

Ri died due to injuries sustained in a car crash; there were different theories about the cause, including speculation that it may have been foul play.^[2] In particular, Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University called the death suspicious, pointing to the lack of traffic in North Korea, and described the death as "part of a long tradition" of politicians being killed in mysterious traffic incidents.^[5] In contrast, North Korea analyst Lee Sang-hyun of the Sejong Institute suspected a more innocent explanation, that Ri may have been driving under the influence of alcohol after returning from a party held by Kim Jong-il, and found himself unable to control his vehicle on poorly lit and poorly maintained roads.^[2]

References