‘He was from Daegu’: DP lawmaker muses about relationship with late North Korean statesman
Published: 05 Nov. 2025, 13:44
![The late former Presidium President of the Supreme People’s Assembly Kim Yong-nam, who died of cancer on Nov. 3 after serving as the face of North Korean diplomacy across three generations of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un [KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/05/bd4736e0-665a-48fa-8b4c-163692d81750.jpg)
The late former Presidium President of the Supreme People’s Assembly Kim Yong-nam, who died of cancer on Nov. 3 after serving as the face of North Korean diplomacy across three generations of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un [KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY]
Liberal Democratic Party Rep. Park Jie-won recalled his diplomatic history with the late Kim Yong-nam, the former president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea, from coordinating talks between leaders to "receiving" a state honor from Pyongyang.
Park, who previously served as the director of the National Intelligence Service and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, even claimed in an MBC radio show appearance on Wednesday that Kim "graduated from Kyeongbuk High School” in Daegu.
“He was from Daegu — tall and handsome,” Park added jokingly.
Kim, a veteran diplomat trusted across the three generations of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un, died Monday of multiple organ failure caused by chronic intoxication at the age of 96. Park expressed his condolences on Tuesday and volunteered to visit Pyongyang as a special envoy to pay respects, saying, “If conditions allow, I would like to visit as a condolence envoy.”
“I had a special relationship with him — we met about 10 times,” Park said, recalling the days around the June 15, 2000, inter-Korean summit.
“At that time, there was the April 8 Agreement between the North’s special envoy, Song Ho-gyong, and myself as the South’s envoy,” he said. “The document stated that ‘the leaders of the South and North will meet and hold talks,’ but some in the South interpreted it as meaning that President Kim Dae-jung would meet Kim Jong-il but hold the talks with Kim Yong-nam, which caused quite a stir.”
“President Kim was quite upset with me over that,” Park continued. “But in the end, he did meet and hold talks with Chairman Kim Jong-il, and also met separately with Kim Yong-nam. Kim was a career diplomat, and both Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un addressed him respectfully as ‘chairman.’”
![Liberal Democratic Party (DP) Rep. Park Jie-won speaks at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Feb. 13. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/05/73ef8337-2cec-48b7-b914-cda07cb7b019.jpg)
Liberal Democratic Party (DP) Rep. Park Jie-won speaks at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Feb. 13. [JOONGANG ILBO]
Describing Kim Yong-nam as “very flexible,” Park shared an anecdote from the 2018 inter-Korean summit at Panmunjom.
“At the banquet, I told Chairman Kim Jong-un, ‘Your father once called me a People’s Artist but never gave me a certificate,’" Park said. He claimed in 2017 that Kim Jong-il jokingly called him worthy of the state honor after Park sang in front of the former leader.
"Kim Yong-nam immediately stepped in to explain my relationship with the late General to Kim Jong-un,” Park said.
“Then Kim Jong-un replied, ‘I know very well. Chairman, please amend the decree and confer the title on Minister Park.’”
Park added that he had spoken with then-Unification Minister Chung Dong-young and National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok about the idea of visiting Pyongyang. “Director Lee also said it would have been most appropriate for me to go, given my ties with him,” Park said.
He lamented that despite the existence of a hotline between the two Koreas, communication remains cut off. “The NIS tries calling at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. every day, but while the signal goes through, no one picks up,” he said. “That’s the state of inter-Korean relations today.”
“As for sending a condolence delegation, it’s up to the North to respond,” he added. “When the late Lee Hee-ho, wife of former President Kim Dae-jung, visited the North, communication went through our channel in China, but that option isn’t available now.”
When asked what message he would deliver if he met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a special envoy, Park said, “I would simply say, ‘Let’s talk.’ I always approached inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea relations from a perspective of mutual benefit — that dialogue and summits are in everyone’s interest.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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