North Korea recently appointed a former trade minister as its new ambassador to China, entrusting him with the crucial mission of reviving trade with the country’s closest ally amid deepening COVID-19 woes.

According to the North’s Foreign Ministry on Feb. 19, Ri Ryong-nam, 61, will be replacing Ji Jae-ryong, 79, who has served as the top envoy to Beijing since 2010.

Ri served as trade minister from 2008 to 2016, during which time the Trade Ministry was renamed the External Economic Affairs Ministry. Until recently, he had served as deputy premier handling foreign trade.

His face may be familiar to many in the South. During the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang in 2018, he was seen meeting with 17 chaebol leaders, including Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, to discuss business cooperation projects.

His elite background also draws attention. He is a nephew of Ri Myong-su, a former army chief and a close aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Currently, he doubles as an alternate member of the Politburo, the ruling Workers’ Party’s top policymaking body.

Still, he is a rare case as an economic official to become the ambassador to all-important China in the North.

“Ri may have little experience in foreign affairs but is highly credited with developing trade with China. His appointment as a top envoy reflects how much emphasis the North is putting on resuming trade with China,” said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification.

Hong added that Ri boasts extensive connections with economic officials in China.

“He can communicate with the Chinese authorities more directly, more quickly,” he said.

The coronavirus pandemic is taking a heavy toll on the North Korean economy, which was already hobbled by international sanctions and communist mismanagement. With the border sealed to ward off the virus, trade with China -- which accounted for 95 percent of the nation’s total trade volume -- shrank even further.

Over the past year, the North’s trade with China plummeted 80.7 percent to $540 million, according to the Seoul-based Korea International Trade Association. It was a sharper fall than in 2017, when the trade with China was cut in half amid toughened sanctions in response to its nuclear weapons tests.

Cash flow also dried up as popular exports like wigs, watches and shoes have fallen the most, not to mention the suspended visits of Chinese tourists, another key pillar of the North’s revenue sources.

With no immediate signs of recovery in trade with China, KITA predicted that trade between the two neighbors could resume for essential items like food and medicines as part of a quarantine partnership, depending on the pandemic’s trajectory.

Hong also said the appointment of a new ambassador to China offers some clues to the North’s pending reopening of its border, though it will probably happen in phases.

“During the border shutdown, the North has secured vaccines, about 1.99 million doses, with more coming through China or Russia. While nations around the world are striving to achieve herd immunity by the first half of this year, the North is also likely to ease quarantine measures in the coming months, reopening the border with China,” he said.

In the meantime, Beijing recently announced the replacement of its Pyongyang ambassador after six years. Wang Yajun, 51, a senior official of the ruling Communist Party, who served as deputy head of the party’s International Liaison Department of the Central Committee, will take up the office.

Considering diplomatic courtesy, the two neighbors are likely to have discussed the replacement of their ambassadors before the official announcements.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)