North Korea's President of the Supreme People's Assembly Kim Yong Nam (L) arrives at Miraflores Palace to have a meeting with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela November 27, 2018. REUTERS/Marco Bello
Kim Yong-nam (pic), the former head of North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament who served as nominal head of state for more than 20 years, has died, state media reported. He was 97.
From 1998 to 2019, Yong-nam served as president of the presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, a post that gave him a symbolic role as head of state.
However, the real decision-making power lay with leaders Kim Jong-il – who died in 2011 – and his son Kim Jong-un.
Yong-nam died from multiple organ failure, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
In 2018, Yong-nam led a North Korean delegation to the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea – a rare trip as both countries technically remain at war.
Although he was the head of the delegation, South Korean media widely reported that Yong-nam yielded the seat of honour to Jong-un’s powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, during a meeting with South Korean officials.
The gesture sparked speculation that Yong-nam had retained positions in North Korea’s purge-prone political scene for decades by showing deference to the family of the supreme leaders. — AFP
