By Maryjane Austine
Former North Korean Ceremonial Leader Kim Yong Nam Dies at 97
Kim Yong Nam, a veteran North Korean official who served as the country’s ceremonial head of state for over two decades, has died at the age of 97, state media announced on Tuesday.
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Yong Nam, former president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, died on Monday from multiple organ failure. His funeral is scheduled for Thursday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the bier of the late official on Tuesday to pay his respects, KCNA reported.
Although not related to the ruling Kim family, Kim Yong Nam was a loyal figure within North Korea’s political hierarchy. He held the largely symbolic position of head of state from 1998 until April 2019, while real power remained firmly in the hands of the Kim dynasty, which has ruled the country since its founding in 1948.
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Known for his booming voice and formal speeches at key state events, Kim frequently represented North Korea in diplomatic settings. He often greeted visiting dignitaries on behalf of Kim Jong Un and his late father, Kim Jong Il.
In 2018, Kim Yong Nam led a North Korean delegation to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, alongside Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong. The visit marked a rare moment of diplomatic engagement, as they sat just a few seats away from then–US Vice President Mike Pence at the opening ceremony, though no interaction occurred between the two sides.
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His visit was the highest-level trip by a North Korean official to South Korea since 2014 and came during a brief period of thawing relations between Pyongyang, Seoul, and Washington.
However, Kim’s influence gradually declined in his later years, particularly as age caught up with him. In April 2019, he was succeeded by Choe Ryong Hae, a close aide to Kim Jong Un.
Kim Yong Nam is remembered as one of North Korea’s longest-serving bureaucrats — a loyal figure whose decades of service embodied the rigid continuity of the state’s political order.