Choe Thae-bok

Choe Thae-bok (1 December 1930) is a North Korean politician. He is a member of the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Workers' Party of Korea, and has been Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly since September 1998. He was considered an advisor to Kim Jong-il, as well as a popular member of the core leadership.

He speaks fluent English, German, and Russian in addition to Korean.

Biography

Choe Thae-bok was born in Nampo, South Pyongan, in 1930. He was one of the first to study at the Mangyongdae School; later he studied chemistry at the Kim Il-sung University, and later completed his studies in Leipzig (then in East Germany) and Moscow. After his return to the DPRK he worked as scoolteacher. Later, in the 1960s, he worked at the Hamhung Chemical Engineering College as researcher, director of research of the Hamhung Branch of the Chemical Research Institute under the National Academy of Sciences (1965), and finally dean of the college (1968). In 1972 he started to work as section chief at the WPK Education Department, being its vice-director from 1976.

Starting from late 1970s, when he was appointed faculty dean and later president of the Kim Chaek University of Technology, Choe Thae-bok took a more prominent role in the country's politics. In the 1980s he served as chairman of the Education Commission (from 1980) and minister of Higher Education (from 1981); in that capacities, he expanded cultural exchanges with other countries and programs to let North Korean students to study abroad.

Choe Thae-bok was first elected deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly in 1982; in the same year, he led a SPA delegation to France. This was only the first time he led DPRK delegations in official visits, including a journey in the socialist countries USSR, East Germany, China and Bulgaria in 1984–1985.

In 1984 he was appointed alternate member of the WPK Central Committee, then full member and secretary in 1986 and Politburo member in 1990. As secretary, Choe Thae-bok was put in charge of education, science and cultural exchanges.

Choe Thae-bok was elected chairman of the 10th, 11th and 12th SPAs, a role that increased his involvement in foreign affairs. He also served as chairman of the Korean Committee for Solidarity with the World People from 1993 to 1998. Despite his alleged reformist views, he is reputedly close to Kim Jong-il's sister Kim Kyong-hui and Vice President Yang Hyong-sop of the SPA Presidium.