Kim Yong-nam

Kim Yong-nam (; February 4, 1928 – November 3, 2025) was a North Korean politician who served as the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, from 1998 until 2019. Due to holding the office, he was considered the head of state of North Korea; the country's constitution was amended once he left office in 2019 to transfer this position to the president of the State Affairs Commission, Kim Jong Un. Previously, he had served as minister of foreign affairs from 1983 to 1998. He was elected a member of the Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 2010.

Life and career Accounts of Kim's early life vary. According to Fyodor Tertitskiy of NK News, he was born Kim Myong-sam to a Korean-Chinese family in the village of Dapu Shihe in Manchuria, in what is now the Liaoning province of China, on February 4, 1928. Kim's official biography states that he was born in Pyongyang, Korea, Empire of Japan (now North Korea). His family came from the Jeonju Kim clan, making him a very distant relative of the Kim family. He came to North Korea with the Chinese People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War and chose to stay. His elevation to Minister of Foreign Affairs is believed to have occurred as part of a reorganization of the diplomatic bureaucracy after the Rangoon bombing in October 1983. In 1988, he was responsible for the arrangement of unofficial diplomatic contacts with the United States through their respective embassies in Beijing.

President of the Presidium On 5 September 1998, Kim was appointed as the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly. As president of the Presidium, Kim Yong-nam was sometimes called the "nominal head of state" of North Korea. The journalist and academic Don Oberdorfer described Kim as enigmatic, rigid in his official role, personally pleasant, highly intelligent, and an important figure behind the scenes in Pyongyang. Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Singapore in 2007. On March 18, 2008, he embarked on a goodwill tour of four African states. Arriving in Namibia on March 20, he was present for the official completion of a new presidential residence that was built by North Korea. He also held talks with Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba and signed an agreement on public health cooperation with Pohamba. 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony on February 7, 2014, 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony on February 9, 2018, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony on June 14, 2018. On July 14, 2009, Kim met Vietnamese president Nguyen Minh Triet on the sidelines of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Egypt. Kim represented North Korea at the 2015 Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9, 2015, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. He attended the May 19, 2016 presidential inauguration of Equatoguinean president Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. As representative of North Korea, he attended the investiture ceremony of Andrés Manuel López Obrador as president of Mexico on December 1, 2018.

Retirement and death Kim retired on April 11, 2019, in a government reshuffle, aged 91, after almost 21 years as President of the SPA Presidium and almost 41 years as Party Politburo member (having first been elected to the body in August 1978). In 2024, he attended a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s death. KCNA also reported North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the bier of Kim Yong-nam at the Sojang Funeral Hall to express deep condolences over his death. He was buried at the Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery in Pyongyang, following a state funeral on November 5.

List of international trips As President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, Kim Yong Nam conducted numerous foreign visits to represent the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

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