Kim Yong Nam, a top bureaucrat of North Korea, has died. Government media gave this information on Tuesday. State media reported that he was 97 years old and died of multiple organ failure.
His lifelong loyalty to the ruling Kim dynasty led him to serve as the country’s ceremonial head of state for two decades.
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Yong Nam, former chairman of the Presidium of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly, died on Monday. Many of his organs had stopped functioning due to which he died. He was 97 years old.
KCNA reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the funeral site of Kim Yong Nam and expressed deep condolences over his death. The funeral of Kim Yong Nam will be held on Thursday.
The name Kim Yong was not related to Kim Jong Un, the third generation of his family to rule North Korea. Kim Jong Un, the grandson of the country’s founder Kim Il Sung, took power in 2011 after the death of his father Kim Jong Il.
Kim Yong Nam served as the head of the ‘Supreme People’s Assembly’ from 1998 to April 2019. This post is the nominal head of state in North Korea. However, real power lies with the Kim family which has ruled North Korea since its formal establishment in 1948.
Kim Jong Nam, known for delivering forceful speeches at major state events, was often seen in state media greeting foreign dignitaries on behalf of Kim Jong Un and his late father Kim Jong Il.
