Ho Dam (; MR: Hŏ Dam; March 6, 1929 – May 11, 1991) was a prominent North Korean politician and diplomat who served as the country's Foreign Minister from 1970 to 1983. Over his career, Ho Dam held several key positions within the North Korean government, including membership in the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairmanship of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland. He played a significant role in shaping North Korea's foreign policy during a period of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and in 1977 became the first senior North Korean official to visit the United States. After his tenure as Foreign Minister, Ho Dam became secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and continued to be an influential figure in the country's political landscape. He accompanied Kim Il Sung to Yugoslavia in 1980 for the funeral of President Josip Broz Tito, reflecting his status as a trusted diplomat. In 1990, he was appointed chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's parliament. Ho Dam is remembered as one of North Korea's most experienced diplomats during the Cold War era, contributing to both inter-Korean relations and the country's international outreach. He died in 1991 after a long illness.

Life

He was a member of the ruling

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

of North Korea's Communist Party, and was also chairman of the

Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK; ) was a North Korean state agency aimed at promoting Korean reunification. The committee was tasked with relations with South Korea, which could not be handled through official chann ...

, which made nominal efforts to reunite the Communist North with the capitalist South. As Foreign Minister in 1977, he became the first senior North Korean official to visit the United States. He left the Foreign Minister's job in 1983 and became secretary of the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

. In 1980, he accompanied

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

for the

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

of the Yugoslav leader

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

(1892–1980). In 1990 he was named chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the legislature of North Korea. It is ostensibly the highest organ of state power and the only branch of government in North Korea, with all state organs subservient to it under the principle of unified ...

, North Korea's parliament. Ho Dam died on May 11, 1991, from a long illness, according to KCNA. The news agency did not specify the cause of death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Dam 1991 deaths Foreign ministers of North Korea Vice premiers of North Korea People from North Hamgyong Province 1929 births Members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Alternate members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 5th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea