North Korea says former ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam dies

By Joyce Lee and Josh Smith

SEOUL (Reuters) -Kim Yong Nam, the only person outside of the ruling Kim family dynasty to serve as North Korea's nominal head of state, has died, state media reported on Tuesday.

Kim Yong Nam, the former chairman of the Presidium of the country's Supreme People’s Assembly and a long-time diplomat who served all three of the country's leaders, died on Monday at the age of 97, state media KCNA said. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Kim Yong Nam's bier to express condolences early on Tuesday, KCNA said.

Never more than a figurehead in a country tightly controlled by a family dictatorship, Kim Yong Nam's unique position as the ceremonial head of state from 1998 until his retirement in 2019 made him the face of key diplomatic moments.

"Despite having a largely ceremonial role in the latter part of his career, Kim Yong Nam had a high degree of influence through patronage connections to North Korea’s diplomats and foreign service personnel," said Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert with the U.S.-based Stimson Center.

Born in 1928, Kim Yong Nam served in key foreign ministry positions and helped shape North Korea's diplomacy under the state's founder Kim Il Sung, before effectively taking charge of summit diplomacy and representing the isolated North under Kim Jong Il. 

"He was the only known senior North Korean official who was never purged, sent down, or disciplined by Kim Jong Il or Kim Il Sung," Madden said.

Under Kim Jong Un, Kim Yong Nam continued to serve as the diplomatic face of North Korea, welcoming top-level visitors to Pyongyang and visiting South Korea in 2018 as head of the North Korean delegation to the Winter Olympics, where he held a meeting with then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

North Korea will hold a state funeral, KCNA said.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Michael Perry)