SEOUL — 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 on Tuesday (Nov 4).
Kim Yong-nam, the former chairman of the Presidium of the country's Supreme People's Assembly and a long-time diplomat who served all three of the country's leaders, died on Monday at the age of 97, state media KCNA said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited Kim Yong-nam's bier to express condolences early on Tuesday, KCNA said.
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 US-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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