SEOUL, Nov. 4 (UPI) — Kim Yong Nam, a North Korean diplomat and politician who served under three generations of the Kim family dynasty, has died at age 97, state media reported Tuesday.
He died on Monday due to multiple organ failure caused by cancer, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
Kim held the role of President of the Presidium of the People’s Supreme Assembly — North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament — from 1998-2019, making him the nominal head of state under leaders Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un.
He also served as foreign minister and was often the public face of North Korean diplomacy. Kim attended several high-profile international events, including the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, where he led a delegation including Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un. That trip, which included a meeting with then-President Moon Jae-in, helped spur a brief period of detente between the two Koreas.
The KCNA obituary described his life as “a brilliant one in which he was highly honored for his allegiance to the revolution with pure loyalty and high ability under the care of the Party and the leader.”
Kim “faithfully supported the Party’s ideas and leadership and demonstrated his unique ability and experience in the international arena, thus recording remarkable merits in the history of the DPRK’s politics and diplomacy,” KCNA added, using the official acronym for North Korea
While his duties were largely symbolic, Kim was one of the country’s longest-serving officials outside of the ruling Kim dynasty. Born in 1928, he joined the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea in the 1950s, according to KCNA, and held a series of high-ranking positions under the rule of founding leader Kim Il Sung. He was appointed to the Politburo in 1978 and became foreign minister in 1983, serving for 15 years.
Kim’s longevity in a political system prone to purges, reshuffles and executions made him an exceedingly rare fixture in North Korea’s upper echelons.
The government announced a state funeral, with a 100-member national funeral committee headed by Kim Jong Un formed to organize the services.
Kim Jong Un visited Kim Yong Nam’s bier early Tuesday to “express deep condolences over his death,” KCNA said in a separate report.
South Korea’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young also extended his condolences Tuesday, noting that Kim’s delegation to the Pyeongchang Olympics contributed to “opening the door to inter-Korean dialogue.”
In a message sent to reporters, Chung said he met Kim in Pyongyang in 2005 and 2018 and engaged in “meaningful discussions about peace on the Korean Peninsula and the advancement of inter-Korean relations.”
Kim retired in 2019 at age 91 after more than six decades in public service.
