Yang Hyong-sop (; 1 October 1925 – 13 May 2022) was a North Korean politician who served as

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly The chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, formerly known as the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, w ...

and

Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly The Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly () is the presiding officer of the Supreme People's Assembly, the legislature of North Korea.Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Article 94 The Supreme People's Ass ...

from 1983 to 1998 (from 1994 it was formally the highest position in the state). He subsequently served as Vice President of the Presidium of the SPA from 1998 to 2019.

Life and career

Yang was born on 1 October 1925, in

Hamhung Hamhŭng (''Hamhŭng-si''; ) is North Korea's List of cities in North Korea, second-most populous city, the capital of South Hamgyong, South Hamgyŏng Province and the 16th largest city in the Korea, Korean Peninsula. Located in the southern part ...

, Kankyōnan-dō,

Korea, Empire of Japan From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...

. He attended

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

and Kim Il Sung University, and was married to Kim Shin-sook, a cousin of

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 ...

. According to the official biography released by the

Korean Central News Agency The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) () is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946, and now features ...

, he joined the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) encompasses the combined military forces of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). The KPA consists of five branches: the Korean People's Army Ground Force, Ground Force, the Ko ...

in June 1950 (approximately when the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

started); after graduating from Kim Il Sung University, he served as section chief and then secretary of the Central Committee 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 ...

, Director of the Central Party School, Minister of Higher Education, and President of the . He was elected

in 1983, after having been a vice-chairman since 1962; in this capacity, he assumed the functions of ''de facto''

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

after

's death in 1994, as the post of President of the Republic was never reassigned; however, actual power was held by

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 (North Korean title), supreme leader of North Korea from Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, the de ...

. In 1998 a new Constitution passed the President's powers to the President of the Presidium; in the same year, Yang was replaced by Kim Yong-nam in that capacity, but continued to serve as vice-president again. He was also a member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party. On 6 January 2007, at a mass rally in

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

, he gave a speech praising the North Korean government for building nuclear weapons. Yang Hyong-sop died of a stroke on 13 May 2022, at the age of 96.

Career accomplishments

*October 1961: Appointed President of the Central Committee Party School (DPRK Workers' Party) *October 1962: Elected

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 ...

Vice-chairman for 2nd–12th Assemblies of SPA. *November 1979: Appointed Chairman of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland *June 1980: Appointed Chairman of the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Hyong-Sop 1925 births 2022 deaths People from Hamhung Chairmen of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly 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 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Kim Il Sung University alumni Education ministers of North Korea Moscow State University alumni