He is a member of Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and served as a member of the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's unicameral parliament.

In 1998 he became a member of the 10th convocation of the Supreme People's Assembly for the 658th electoral district.

[1] In April 2010 he was awarded the rank of a three-star colonel general (Sangjang).

In 1997 he was member of the funeral committee of Minister of Defense, Choe Kwang.

After the death of Kim Jong-il in December 2011, Choe Sang-ryo was in 67th place in the 232-person Funeral Committee.