Kim Yong-sun (1934 – 26 October 2003) was a North Korean politician. At the time of his death, he was vice-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 ...

. He was reported to have been killed in a car accident. He also held a position as a secretary (subordinate to the

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

) 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 ...

(WPK).

Career

Kim was born in 1934 in

South Pyongan South Pyongan Province (; ) is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Pyongan Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Korea. Its capital is Pyon ...

, when the

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

was still under Japanese rule. He was elevated to the WPK's Central Committee in October 1980. He was a recipient of the Kim Il-sung Order, the highest decoration of the North Korean government. According to author Bradley K. Martin, Kim was interned in a 're-education camp' for three years from 1979 because he had an affair with a female colleague. According to author Don Oberdorfer, he was flamboyant and was demoted in the mid-1980s for decadent behavior. However, his career was saved because of his friendship with

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his death in 2011, when he was ...

and his sister Kim Kyong-hui. In 1992, he visited

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to prepare for North Korea's accession to the United Nations and held the highest-level US-DPRK diplomatic meetings to that time with Arnold Kanter, Richard Solomon, Douglas Paal, and James Lilley of the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

. Kim played an instrumental role in the planning of the first Inter-Korean summit between

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (, ; 6 January 192418 August 2009) was a South Korean politician, activist and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Pa ...

and

in June 2000. He came to the South in September that year as part of an official Northern delegation, and inspected

POSCO POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is a South Korean steel manufacturer headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It had an output of of crude steel in 2015, making it the List of steel producers, world's sixth-largest steelmaker by thi ...

facilities in

Pohang Pohang (; ), formerly spelled Po-Hang, is the largest city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, with a List of cities in South Korea, population of 499,363 as of 2022, bordering the Sea of Japan, East Sea to the east, Yeongcheon to the w ...

; he was the first secretary of the WPK to take an inspection tour in the South since

Ho Dam 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 Kore ...

in 1985. After reportedly being involved in a car accident in June 2003, he was hospitalised, and succumbed to his injuries on 23 October 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Yong-sun 1934 births 2003 deaths Road incident deaths in North Korea Workers' Party of Korea politicians Recipients of the Order of Kim Il Sung People from South Pyongan Province