The Korean Central News Agency said on the 5th that mourners continued to visit the mourning hall for Kim Yong-nam, a veteran of North Korean diplomacy and former chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly.
The agency said that on the previous day, officials from North Korea's party, government, military organs, and ministries and central institutions visited the Seojang Hall in Potonggang District, Pyongyang, where Kim Yong-nam's body was laid, to pay their respects. According to the agency, Wang Yajun, the Chinese ambassador to North Korea, and Le Ba Vinh, the Vietnamese ambassador to North Korea, also visited the mourning hall.
Kim Yong-nam died on the 3rd from multiple organ failure caused by cancer intoxication. The funeral is being held as a state funeral, and the cortege departed at 9 a.m. that day.
Kim Yong-nam is regarded as a rare figure who kept key posts without demotion or "revolutionization" measures through the transitions of the three-generation system of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong-un. A career diplomat who held key positions across the Workers' Party's International Department and the Foreign Ministry, he ended more than 60 years of public service in 2019 at age 91.
During the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018, he led a high-level North Korean delegation and visited the South with Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a vice department director, and met with former President Moon Jae-in.