In 1994, Ri was appointed an assistant to the Ministry of Trade in 1998 after passing through the secretary of economic affairs for the North Korean Embassy in
Singapore. After rising to the Ministry of Trade in March 2001, he was appointed the first vice chairman of the North Korea International Trade Promotion Committee in October 2004. Currently, he is chairman of the North Korean-Syria Friendship Association, and since July 2010, he is also chairman of the
North Korean Football Association. From March 2008 to September 2016, Ri served as
Minister of External Economic Relations in the
Cabinet of North Korea. In September 2010, Ri was elected to the
Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. He served on the funeral committee for
Kim Jong Il in December 2011, having previously served in a similar capacity after the respective deaths of
Pak Song-chol and
Jo Myong-rok. In June 2016, Ri was appointed
Vice Premier of the
Cabinet of North Korea. In April 2017, Ri was appointed a member of the Supreme People's Assembly Foreign Relations Committee. On February 19, 2021, Ri was appointed to be the North Korean ambassador to China, having arrived in China the prior day. After Ri went through a period of quarantine, the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed his appointment and accepted his credentials in
Beijing on March 18, 2021. Ri had previously lived in Beijing briefly as a student at the
Beijing Foreign Studies University. ==References==