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North Korea says ex-titular head of parliament, Kim Yong-nam, dies at 97

Published: 04 Nov. 2025, 08:49 Updated: 04 Nov. 2025, 18:19

Kim Yong-nam, who served as the face of North Korean diplomacy under three generations of leadership, died of cancer on Nov. 3, the Korean Central News Agency reported on Nov. 4. The photo shows Kim Yong-nam waving upon arrival at the Skybay Hotel in Gangneung, Gangwon, to attend a dinner hosted by South Korea’s Ministry of Unification during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. [YONHAP]

North Korea's state media reported Tuesday that the North's former titular head of its parliament, Kim Yong-nam, who had led Pyongyang's diplomacy for decades, has died, with leader Kim Jong-un expressing deep condolences over his death earlier in the day. He was 97 years old.

Kim Yong-nam, former chairman of the North's rubber-stamp Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, died the previous day from multiple organ failure related to cancer-linked poisoning, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited his bier at 1 a.m. Tuesday to express "deep condolences," accompanied by major senior party and government officials, the KCNA said.

Kim Yong-nam visited South Korea as head of the North's delegation to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.

The parliamentary standing committee and the cabinet decided to hold a state funeral for Kim Yong-nam on Tuesday, and his coffin will leave the facility Wednesday to be laid to rest. The state funeral committee is composed of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Premier Pak Thae-song, current parliamentary standing committee chairman Choe Ryong-hae and other officials.

North Korea’s ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported on Nov. 4 that Kim Yong-nam, former chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, had died the previous day. [RODONG SINMUN]

Kim Yong-nam had served in high-profile diplomatic posts spanning the regimes of national founder Kim Il-sung, late leader Kim Jong-il and current leader Kim Jong-un.

Under Kim Jong-il, the former parliamentary standing committee chairman handled most summit diplomacy on behalf of the leader, who tended to stay away from external affairs, effectively emerging as North Korea's representative on the international stage.

In 2018, he visited South Korea as head of a North Korean delegation to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, which included Kim Yo-jong — the powerful sister of the leader — and held a meeting with then President Moon Jae-in.

He retired from six decades of public service at the age of 91 in 2019.

"Comrade Kim Yong-nam, an old-generation revolutionary who left extraordinary achievements in the development history of our party and country, wrapped up his noble life at the age of 97," the KCNA said.

Yonhap