The United States on Dec. 10 placed sanctions on three senior officials of North Korea’s communist regime for human rights abuses and censorship. One of the officials, Choe Ryong Hae, is seen by some as North Korea’s second most powerful official in Pyongyang, holding posts at the apex of the communist party, the government, and the military.
Choe is the director of the Organization and Guidance Department, which implements censorship policies and purports to control the political lives of all North Koreans. His second son, Choe Song, reportedly married Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2015.
