With a background in economic affairs, Ri was a delegate to the 12th, 13th and 14th convocations of the Supreme People's Assembly, chairman of the North Korean-Syrian Friendship Association and chairman of the North Korean Football Association.
In 1994, Ri was appointed an assistant to the Ministry of Trade in 1998 after passing through the secretary of economic affairs for the North Korean Embassy in Singapore.
From March 2008 to September 2016 he served as Minister of External Economic Relations in the Cabinet of North Korea.
[3] In April 2017 he was appointed a member of the Supreme People's Assembly Foreign Relations Committee.
[4] After Ri went through a period of quarantine,[5] the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed his appointment and accepted his credentials in Beijing on March 18, 2021.