Jo Yong-won
Jo Yong-won | |
|---|---|
조용원 | |
_(cropped).jpg) Jo in 2026 | |
| Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly | |
| In office 22 March 2026 – 20 June 2026 | |
| Leader | Kim Jong Un |
| Vice Chairpersons | Kim Hyong-sik Ri Son-gwon |
| Preceded by | Choe Ryong-hae |
| Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly | |
| In office 22 March 2026 – 20 June 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Pak In-chol |
| First Vice President of the State Affairs Commission | |
| Assumed office 22 March 2026 | |
| President | Kim Jong Un |
| Preceded by | Choe Ryong-hae |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1957 (age 68–69) North Korea |
| Party | Workers' Party of Korea |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 조용원 [1][2] |
| RR | Jo Yongwon |
| MR | Cho Yongwŏn |
 |
|---|
 North Korea portal |
Jo Yong-won (Korean: 조용원, born 1957[1]) is a North Korean politician who is deputy chief of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK)'s Secretariat of General Secretary Kim Jong Un. From March until June 2026, he was also the Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's unicameral parliament, and the Chairman of its Standing Committee.
Biography
[edit]He was a vice director of the WPK Organization and Guidance Department (OGD).[3][2] Jo was also a full member of the 7th Central Committee of the WPK since it was elected at the 7th Congress of the WPK in May 2016.[4][1] Jo has been a member of the Presidium of the Politburo, and a secretary of the Secretariat of the WPK since it was elected at the 8th WPK Central Committee in January 2021. Jo appears to serve as the First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea[5] making him formally the principal day-to-day leader of the party second only to Kim Jong Un.
Jo is a confidant of the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, and accompanies him often on guidance tours, mostly in relation to the economy.[3] In 2016 he was the most frequent member of Kim's entourage.[6]
According to NK News, Jo was "once described as a 'rising star' of DPRK politics [and] remains one of the country's most important officials." Jo is often featured in North Korean media; in 2018 his name was mentioned more often than that of any other official except Kim Jong Un.[3]
In March 2021 in Pyongyang, Jo "sharply censured the shortcomings" of WPK city and county level cadre, calling out their "deviations of failing to properly apply our Party's people-first politics."[7]
In March 2026 during the session of the 15th convocation of the Supreme People's Assembly he was appointed chairman of its standing committee as well as Chairman of the Assembly. On June 2026 in an unexpected move, during the expanded session of the 2nd Plenary Meeting of the 9th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, held for three days starting on the 20th, Kim Jong-un proposed recalling Jo from his position as chairman of the standing committee and chairman of the assembly of the Supreme People's Assembly, and electing him as a secretary of the WPK Central Committee for organization matters which was unanimously approved.[8]
Sanctions and travel ban
[edit]In January 2017, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned Jo for his involvement in the censorship activities of the OGD.[9][10] In June 2017, Jo was singled out in Annex 1 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2356, which placed an international travel ban and asset freeze on him.[11]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 조용원(남성). nkinfo.unikorea.go.kr (in Korean). Ministry of Unification. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- 1 2 "KJU and RSJ Visits Food and Bag Factories in Wo'nsan". North Korea Leadership Watch. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- 1 2 3 Hotham, Oliver (7 January 2019). "Jo Yong Won was Kim Jong Un's most prominent official in 2018, data reveals". NK News. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ↑ "Official Report of Seventh Congress of the WPK". Naenara. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
- ↑ N. Korea creates 'first secretary' post in revised party rules
- ↑ Kim Soo-yeon (27 October 2016). "Jo Yong-won most frequent attendee of N.K. leader's on-site inspections". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ↑ Rodong Sinmun (4 March 2021). "Occasion for Important Turn in Strengthening Regional Bases of Socialist Construction: First Short Course for Chief Secretaries of City and County Party Committees Opens".
- ↑ "북한 조용원, 석달만에 조직비서 복귀" (in Korean). KBS. 23 June 2026. Archived from the original on 24 July 2026. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ "Treasury Sanctions Additional North Korean Officials and Entities In Response To The North Korean Regime's Serious Human Rights Abuses and Censorship Activities". www.treasury.gov. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ↑ Macdonald, Hamish (11 January 2017). "U.S. sanctions Kim Jong Un's sister for censorship activities". NK News. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ↑ United Nations Security Council (2 June 2017). "Resolution 2356 (2017)" (PDF).
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