With a "crude" new foreign minister, North Korea strengthens its hard-line turn



Analysis With a “crude” new foreign minister, North Korea strengthens its hard-line turn Ri Son Gwon, with his reputation for bluster, may be the ideal DPRK diplomat if tensions rise in the coming year Oliver Hotham January 21, 2020 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON Pyeongyang Press Corps / file photo It was September 2018, and peace and reconciliation was the talk of Pyongyang as a gaggle of South Korean VIPs descended on the North Korean capital for a gala summit between President Moon Jae-in and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un. Among those VIPs were some of South Korea’s richest men: Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. At a banquet on day two of the summit, they sat down with top North Korean officials for a feast of naengmyeon, the ice-cold noodles that had become something of a © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. Get the Daily Update Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most – as selected by Trending

Analysis

With a “crude” new foreign minister, North Korea strengthens its hard-line turn

Ri Son Gwon, with his reputation for bluster, may be the ideal DPRK diplomat if tensions rise in the coming year

Oliver Hotham January 21, 2020

With a “crude” new foreign minister, North Korea strengthens its hard-line turn

Pyeongyang Press Corps / file photo

It was September 2018, and peace and reconciliation was the talk of Pyongyang as a gaggle of South Korean VIPs descended on the North Korean capital for a gala summit between President Moon Jae-in and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.

Among those VIPs were some of South Korea’s richest men: Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

At a banquet on day two of the summit, they sat down with top North Korean officials for a feast of naengmyeon, the ice-cold noodles that had become something of a

With a “crude” new foreign minister, North Korea strengthens its hard-line turn

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