North Korea’s Former Leader Kim Yong Nam Passes Away at 98

KCNA reported that former Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea, Kim Yong Nam, died on November 3 at the age of 98. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced this on November 4.

The cause of death was cancer. A state funeral will be held in his honor, with Kim Jong-un leading the organizing commission. Kim Yong Nam was born in 1928 in Pyongyang. He began his career teaching at a rural school before studying at Tomsk and Rostov State Universities in Russia. Since the early 1960s, he served as First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea.

From 1983 to 1998, Kim Yong Nam held roles as head of the Administrative Council and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He later became Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, a position he retained until 2019. For his contributions to the state, he was awarded the Order of the National Flag, first class, one of North Korea’s highest honors.