National Defence Commission
Ri was elected to the National Defence Commission in 1998, being also promoted to the second highest military rank of vice-marshal. He was reelected in 2003 and 2009. As the Workers' Party politburo, central military commission and central committee were "de facto" suspended under Kim Jong-Il's "military first" policy from 1994 to 2010, the National Defence Commission became in practice the highest decision-making body in the country and Ri hence part of the innermost circle of power.