North Korea's Former Formal Head Of State Has Died

• 4.11.2025, 12:57

He held office from 1998 to 2019.

Kim Yong Nam, the former chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, has died at the age of 97. A report that DPRK leader Kim Jong Un had arrived to bid farewell to Kim Yong Nam was published by the state-run Korean Central Telegraphic Agency (KCTAK) on Nov. 4.

Kim Yong Nam was chairman of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly from 1998 to 2019. The incumbent is formally the head of North Korea, although the Kim family holds power in the DPRK. Kim Yong Nam also served as North Korea's foreign minister for 15 years.

CNN recalls that as the formal head of state, Kim Yong Nam has met with foreign leaders on several occasions. In 2018, he attended the opening of the Olympics in South Korea, becoming the highest-ranking DPRK official to visit the neighboring country.