of
Azerbaijan in 2018 in August 2018 Ri was a career diplomat with more than 30 years of service in foreign affairs. Proficient in English, he was described as "a skilled negotiator". In October 2000, he was ambassador-at-large accompanying
Jo Myong-rok to negotiations in Washington. he was Ambassador to the United Kingdom between 2003 and 2007. serving for part of the time under
Ri Su-yong. Ri's team negotiated the "Leap day agreement" during the Six-party talks. Ri was appointed
Minister of Foreign Affairs on 9 May 2016. His promotion came after the
7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, which made him a full member of the
Central Committee and an alternate member of the
Politburo. representing the 371st Electoral District (Unha). In August 2017, amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Ri took part in a rare multilateral meeting with foreign ministers at a summit meeting in
Manila,
Philippines. Ri negotiated with his
South Korean,
Chinese, and
Russian counterparts, making the meeting only two parties – the
United States and
Japan – short of the makeup of the six-party talks. On 7 August, Ri said that his country will never negotiate away North Korea's nuclear weapons. On 23 September 2017, Ri attended the
UN General Assembly and gave a speech in which he remarked that
Donald Trump is "chastised even by the American people as 'Commander in Grief', 'Lying King', [and] 'President Evil'." In August 2019, Ri condemned the
2019 Hong Kong protests, stating: "North Korea fully supports the stand and measures of China to defend the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the country and safeguard the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, and concerns about foreign forces interference in Hong Kong issue." In January 2020 Ri was dismissed from his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs. His successor was announced two days later as
Ri Son-Gwon, who is known as a hardliner. ==See also==