Kwak Pom-gi

Kwak Pom-gi (born 20 November 1939) is a North Korean government official.

In this Korean name, the family name is Kwak.
Kwak Pom-gi
곽범기
Born (1939-11-20) 20 November 1939
Alma materKim Il-sung University
Organization(s)Politburo alternate member and director of the Party Finance and Accounting Department in April 2012, and chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly Budget Committee in 2012
Political partyWorkers' Party of Korea
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
곽범기
Hancha
Revised RomanizationGwak Beom-gi
McCune–ReischauerKwak Pŏm-gi

After graduating from Huichon Industrial College,[1] he began his career in 1983 as a machine factory manager, progressing through the machinery bureau of the Workers' Party of Korea, becoming an alternate member of the party's 6th Central Committee in 1993.[2] He has been Vice-Premier of the government from 1998 to 2010,[3] and is a member of the Secretariat of the Workers' Party of Korea.[4] He is described as a "technocrat" in the North Korean leadership.[5]

In October 2003, Kwak gave a speech celebrating the Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Indoor Stadium at the Mansudae Art Theatre, which is an indoor stadium built on the bank of the River Potong.[6]

In August 2006, Kwak, with Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov, was at the opening of the first Russian Orthodox Church in Pyongyang, North Korea.[7] The church was opened to improve the development of Russian–North Korean relations according to Korean Orthodox Church Committee Chairman Ho Il Jin.[7] The North Korean government would "successfully administer" the church, which was built to hold 500 people.[7]

On 6 January 2007, at a mass rally in Pyongyang which included Kim Jong-il, he gave a speech praising the North Korean government for building nuclear weapons.[8] He also addressed the country's "problem of food scarcity" in 2007, saying, "The Cabinet will concentrate state efforts on agriculture this year, too, considering it a mainstay, to thoroughly implement the WPK's policy of agriculture revolution and make a signal advance in the efforts to settle the people's food problem."[9]

He served as WPK South Hamgyong provincial secretary from 2010, where he led an effort to develop local industry which was celebrated as "flames of Hamnam".[10] Likely as a result of this, he was elevated to Politburo alternate member and director of the Party Finance and Accounting Department in April 2012, and chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly Budget Committee in September of the same year. He has been speculated as the head of the new Party Economy Department, reportedly established in June 2013.[11]

References
  1. 통일부 북한자료센터 주요 인물 정보 (in Korean). Ministry of Unification Information Center on North Korea. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  2. "Kwak Pom-gi". Korean Broadcasting System website. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  3. Central Intelligence Agency, 2010, The World Factbook, Potomac Books, pp. 342, ISBN 9781597975414
  4. Gause, Ken (2012). "The Role and Influence of the Party Apparatus". In Pak, Kyŏng-ae; Snyder, Scott (eds.). North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 42. ISBN 9781442218123.
  5. Taylor & Francis Group (2004). Europa World Year Book 2. Vol. 2. Taylor & Francis. p. 2463.
  6. "South Side's Group Feted". KCNA. October 7, 2003. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  7. "North Korea permits first Russian Orthodox church". Deutsche Presse-Agenteur. August 8, 2006. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  8. "Usher in a great heyday of Songun Korea full of confidence in victory". The Pyongyang Times. 6 January 2007. p. 1.
  9. "Vantage Point". Naewoe Press. 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  10. "Flames of Hamnam, Banner of Victory for 2012: Rodong Sinmun". KCNA. 24 January 2012. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  11. "A New Party Economic Department?". North Korea Leadership Watch. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
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