Kim Yong-nam, former president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly who held key posts in North Korean diplomacy across three generations under Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong-un, has died. He led North Korea's high-level delegation during the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Korean Central News Agency said on the 4th that Kim Yong-nam, an elder-generation revolutionary who left outstanding merits in the history of strengthening and developing our Party and state, ended his noble life at the age of 97. The agency reported the cause of death as multiple organ failure due to uremic intoxication.
Kim Jong-un, chairman of the State Affairs Commission, paid his respects at 1 a.m. on the 4th with senior officials at the Sojang Hall in Potonggang District, Pyongyang, where Kim Yong-nam's body is laid out. The visitation runs from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the 4th, and the funeral is at 9 a.m. on the 5th, the agency said.
Kim Yong-nam's funeral will be held as a state funeral in accordance with a decision by the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and the Cabinet. The national funeral committee includes senior Party and government figures such as Kim Jong-un, Choe Ryong Hae, and Pak Tae Song. The names of Kim Yong Chol and Ri Son-gwon, who previously handled inter-Korean affairs, were left off the list. As they were included as funeral committee members when former secretary Kim Ki Nam died in 2024, attention is on the reason for their exclusion this time.
The agency said Kim Yong-nam was born in 1928, during the Japanese colonial period, into an "anti-Japanese patriot family." While serving at Kim Il Sung University, he studied in Moscow, returned in 1952, became a professor at the Central Party School, and then began his full-fledged political career as a cadre in the Party's International Department.
In his 20s, he held a wide range of key posts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and established himself as a key figure in North Korean diplomacy. He is regarded as a rare figure who kept core posts without demotion or "revolutionization" measures even through the system shifts under Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong-un.
Starting in 1983, he served as deputy premier of the Administration Council and foreign minister (now foreign minister), and after the launch of the Kim Jong Il regime in 1998, he served for 21 years as president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, acting as the de facto head of state for external affairs. He led talks with heads of state from various countries on behalf of Kim Jong Il, who shunned overseas activities, and represented North Korea on the international stage.
Under the Kim Jong-un system, he also received delegations from various countries and served as one pillar of summit diplomacy. During the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, he visited the South as head of the high-level delegation and met Moon Jae-in with Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong-un's younger sister and vice department director. Kim Yong-nam stepped down from official posts in 2019 at age 91, ending more than 60 years of public service.