Ri Kyong-suk
{{Short description|North Korean singer (born 1980)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ri Kyong Suk
| image = Ri Kyong Suk, Pyongyang 10-2015.jpg
| caption = Ri Kyong Suk singing at a concert at Kim Il Sung Square, 2015
| native_name = 리경숙
| native_name_lang = kor
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age |1970|01|01}}
| death_date =
| birth_place = Pyongyang, North Korea
| occupation = Singer, Professor
| years_active = 1988 - late 2000
| title = Merited Artiste
| spouse = Kim Yong Il
| children = Kim Nam Jun, Kim Ye Eun
| awards = Merited Artiste
}}
Ri Kyong Suk ({{korean|hangul=리경숙|hanja=李京淑|context=north}}; born January 1, 1970) is a North Korean singer.
Biography
Ri Kyong Suk was born to an engineer father and a train driver mother as the eldest of three siblings on 1 January 1970, in the Pyongchon District of Pyongyang. At the age of 7, she began singing in opera productions, where her talent was quickly recognized. She is currently living in the Moranbong District of Pyongyang with her husband Kim Yong Il, a member of the Ministry of Culture and bass guitar player in the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble.{{Cite web|last=NK Media|date=January 7, 2021|title=Great Party, Rosy Korea|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaoYYmy4t4c&ab_channel=NKMedia|access-date=December 10, 2021|website=YouTube}} She has a son, Kim Nam Jun and a daughter, Kim Ye Eun.{{cite web|last=Kim|first=Chun Kyong|date=January 17, 2016|title=《반갑습니다》, 《다시 만납시다》, Part II|url=http://www.uriminzokkiri.com/uri_foreign/tongilsinbo/index.php?ptype=sinbogisa&no=104603|access-date=May 6, 2021|website=Uriminzokkiri|publisher=Tongil Sinbo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823161952/http://www.uriminzokkiri.com/uri_foreign/tongilsinbo/index.php?ptype=sinbogisa&no=104603|archive-date=2019-08-23}}
Career
Ri's career started in the late 1970s as a singer and actor in opera productions. At age 7, she played a role in the revolutionary opera The Song of Mount Kumgang,{{cite web|last=Yang|first=Seung Jin|date=September 28, 2020|title=北 공훈배우 리경숙도 '기동예술선전대' 갔다|url=https://www.sisaweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=32896|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=sisaweekly.com|publisher=Sisa weekly}} and in middle school, she played a role in the famous revolutionary opera titled The Sea of Blood. Around 1985, she was selected by a director from the Korean Film Studio to act in the film Female Teacher.
She joined the newly created Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble in 1988, and quickly became famous in both the North and the South. In 1991, she toured Japan with the Ensemble, performing for Koreans in Japan. After 2000, her fame declined slowly alongside the Ensemble's popularity.
In 2015, Ri performed on 11 October in the 10 000 People Strong Grand Art Performance Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea, commonly known as Great Party, Rosy Korea, with the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble. She also performed in the concert Songs of Memories, held on 21 February 2015,{{Cite web|date=March 23, 2015|title=Art Performance Given before Full House|url=http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2015/201503/news23/20150323-20ee.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191124072525/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2015/201503/news23/20150323-20ee.html|archive-date=November 24, 2019|access-date=May 21, 2021|website=KCNA}} a concert held by older artists, where she could be seen singing Glad to Meet You and My Country is the Best with her bandmates from the Ensemble, earning strong engagement from the audience.{{cite web|date=February 28, 2019|title=노래 《반갑습니다》와 함께 널리 알려진 명가수|url=https://dprktoday.com/news/37447|access-date=May 21, 2021|website=DPRK Today|publisher=DPRK Today}}
Since then, Ri has been working at the Kim Won Gyun University of Music in Pyongyang as a professor, teaching since 2016. In 2020, she was spotted in a North Korean news broadcast as being part of a propaganda squad, encouraging workers at construction sites. In 2022, she was interviewed during a TV documentary about the film and song "Urban Girl Comes to Get Married".{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u3hmw9y1a4 |title=[특집] 도시처녀 시집와요 |date=2022-01-01 |last=DPRK |access-date=2024-11-29 |via=YouTube}} On January 26, 2025, she attended composer Hwang Jin Yong's funeral, along with other singers of the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble.{{Cite news |date=January 27, 2025 |title=2025년 1월 27일 중앙텔레비죤 20시보도 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DaNGnvyi20&ab_channel=supersuhui |access-date=January 28, 2025 |work=Korean Central Television}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
!Year !Title !Role |
| scope="row" |1985
|Role Unknown |
|---|
Theater
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
!Year !Title !Role |
| scope="row" |1977
|Role Unknown |
|---|
| scope="row" |Early 1970s
|Role Unknown |
Famous songs
- Glad to Meet You (반갑습니다)
- Arirang (아리랑)
- We Will Win (우리는 승리하리라)
- I Look at You and Think (너를 보며 생각하네)
- Urban Girl Comes to Get Married (도시처녀 시집와요). This song is the theme song of the 1993 comedy film under the same name
- See You Again (다시 만납시다)
- My Country is the Best (내 나라 제일로 좋아). This song is the theme song of the 1992-2002 film series The Nation and Destiny (민족과 운명).
- My Love, My Happiness (나의 사랑 나의 행복). This song is the theme song of the film My Happiness (나의 행복)
- A Crossroads of Faith (운명의 갈림길)
- Don't Ask My Name (내 이름 묻지 마세요)
- No Motherland Without You (당신이 없으면 조국도 없다)