---
title: "Ri Yong Gil: Minister of National Defence | Save North Korea"
description: "Ri Yong-gil is a North Korean military officer who is currently a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and the Chief"
url: "https://savenorthkorea.org/people/ri-yong-gil"
language: en
translations:
  en: https://savenorthkorea.org/people/ri-yong-gil
  ko: https://savenorthkorea.org/ko/people/ri-yong-gil
  ja: https://savenorthkorea.org/ja/people/ri-yong-gil
  zh-Hans: https://savenorthkorea.org/zh/people/ri-yong-gil
---

[People](https://savenorthkorea.org/people) · politburo · military

# Ri Yong Gil 리영길 

Minister of National Defence

alive 74 years old 

Ri Yong-gil is a North Korean military officer who is currently a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and the Chief of the General Staff. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ri%5FYong-gil)

Born

1952, North Korea

Height

Unknown 

Weight

Unknown 

Military rank

General

Status as of

2026-09-01

Also known as

Ri Yong-gil, General Ri

## Positions

1. 2021–2022 Minister of National Defence[source](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12594419)
2. 2019–2021 Minister of Social Security[source](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12594419)
3. 2013–2016 Chief of General Staff of the Korean People's Army[source](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12594419)

Machine-readable: [/api/people/ri-yong-gil](https://savenorthkorea.org/api/people/ri-yong-gil) · [Wikidata Q12594419](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12594419) · Photo: [The Presidential Press and Information Office / Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kim%5FJong-un%5Fand%5FVladimir%5FPutin%5F%282019-04-25%29%5F15%5F%28cropped%29.jpg) (CC BY 4.0)