Many Seoul officials remember him for his good negotiating skills, suave manners and fine command of the English language.

The North’s current ties with Seoul and Washington remain icy in the wake of its latest atomic and missile tests. Yet, he could be a catalyst when the mood turns around and dialogue restarts, some observers say, pointing to his previous stint as the representative to the six-nation denuclearization talks also involving China, Russia and Japan.

“He is known as a reasonable figure, with impressive capability as a diplomat, speaking skills and knowledge all in all. But he would have limited leeway as the minister, and be more like a typical technocrat,” a South Korean senior diplomat who has met with Ri before.

“His appointment bears the message to the outside world: While continuing nuclear development, they can carry out negotiations in parallel, in line with the message that came out of the recent party congress.”

Ri’s promotion essentially completed the foreign ministry’s lineup for North American affairs, with the American department being led by Han Song-ryol, with the support of two deputy directors -- Pak Song-il and Choe Son-hui, the daughter of late Premier Choe Yong-rim.

With the appointment, Pyongyang could have a better balance of hawks and doves. Han was also in charge of the “New York channel” with Clifford Hart, who served as the U.S.’ special envoy for the six-party talks and is now consul general in Hong Kong.

Concerns had grown after hard-line military commander Kim Yong-chol became the new director of the United Front Department and a secretary of the party’s central committee responsible for inter-Korean affairs, following the death of seasoned negotiator Kim Yang-gon. Kim Yong-chol is believed to have orchestrated Pyongyang’s deadly sinking of a South Korean corvette in 2010.

But the prospects remain bleak for any resumption of denuclearization negotiations. During the congress early this month, leader Kim Jong-un declared the country a “responsible nuclear state” and reaffirmed its parallel pursuit of nuclear capability and development -- the “byungjin policy” -- though he proposed inter-Korean military talks and urged efforts to bring the cross-border relationship back on track.

“Ri is likely to boost the North’s propaganda offensive with better English and in a shrewder manner than that of his predecessor, as it has claimed to be a strong nuclear power,” another Seoul diplomat said on anonymity.


By Shin Hyon-hee
(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)