Seoul ¨C Kim Yong Nam, the only person outside of the ruling Kim family dynasty to serve as North Korea¡¯s nominal head of state, has died, state media reported Tuesday.
Kim Yong Nam, the former chairman of the Presidium of the country¡¯s Supreme People¡¯s Assembly and a longtime diplomat who served all three of the country¡¯s leaders, died Monday at the age of 97, the North¡¯s official Korean Central News Agency reported.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Kim Yong Nam¡¯s bier to express condolences early on Tuesday, KCNA said.
South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Tuesday offered Seoul¡¯s condolences.
¡°Former Chairman Kim Yong Nam led the North Korean delegation to South Korea during the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and contributed to opening the door to inter-Korean dialogue,¡± Chung said in a statement released by his ministry.
Never more than a figurehead in a country tightly controlled by a family dictatorship, Kim Yong Nam¡¯s unique position as the ceremonial head of state from 1998 until his retirement in 2019 made him the face of key diplomatic moments.
¡°Despite having a largely ceremonial role in the latter part of his career, Kim Yong Nam had a high degree of influence through patronage connections to North Korea¡¯s diplomats and foreign service personnel,¡± said Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert with the U.S.-based Stimson Center.
Born in 1928, Kim Yong Nam served in key Foreign Ministry positions and helped shape North Korea¡¯s diplomacy under the state¡¯s founder Kim Il Sung, before effectively taking charge of summit diplomacy and representing the isolated North under Kim Jong Il.
¡°He was the only known senior North Korean official who was never purged, sent down, or disciplined by Kim Jong Il or Kim Il Sung,¡± Madden said.
Under Kim Jong Un, Kim Yong Nam continued to serve as the diplomatic face of North Korea, welcoming top-level visitors to Pyongyang and visiting South Korea in 2018 as head of the North Korean delegation to the Winter Olympics, where he held a meeting with then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
North Korea will hold a state funeral, KCNA said.
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