Kim Jong-suk (politician)
North Korean government official (born 1930)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kim Jong-suk (Korean: 김정숙; born 1930) is a North Korean government official. She was the chairwoman of the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, as well as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Minju Joson. She has also been elected as a delegate for every Supreme People's Assembly since 1986. She is a cousin of Kim Il Sung, who was the first Supreme Leader and founder of North Korea.
Kim Jong-suk | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1930 (age 95–96) |
Political party | Workers' Party of Korea |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Kim Il Sung (cousin) |
| Awards | Order of Kim Il Sung (1992), Order of Kim Jong Il (2012) |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 김정숙 |
| Hanja | 金貞淑 [1] |
| RR | Gim Jeongsuk |
| MR | Kim Chŏngsuk |
Life
Kim Jong-suk was born in 1930 in Taedong County, Heian'nan Province, Korea, Empire of Japan.[2][1] Since Kim is a cousin of Kim Il Sung and North Korean citizens are unable to share their names with the Kim Dynasty, Kim is the only North Korean named Kim Jong-suk.[1][3] She was married to Ho Dam—who was a close associate of Kim Jong Il[3]—until his death in 1991.[4]
Kim has served as the chairwoman and vice chairwoman of multiple committees related to North Korea's foreign relations since 1965, including the North–Latin American Friendship Association (조선-라틴아메리카 친선협회), the North–Cuba Solidarity Committee (조선-쿠바 연대성위원회), the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries,[5][6] and the North–Finland Friendship Association (조선-핀란드 친선협회). She has been a delegate to every Supreme People's Assembly since the 7th one, and became the president and editor-in-chief of the newspaper Minju Joson in March 1986.[2][1] A candidate for the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea,[2][1] Kim was elected to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly (최고인민회의 외교위원회 위원) in December 1993,[1] but the committee was abolished five years later.[7]
After being appointed chairwoman of the Choson Foreign Cultural Liaison Committee (조선대외문화연락위원회) in December 2009,[1][8] Kim attended multiple funeral committees and memorials, such as Jo Myong-rok's National Funeral Committee (고 조명록의 국가장의위원회),[9] as well as the Kim Jong Il State Funeral Committee,[10] the North Korea Preparatory Committee commemorating the 100th birthday of Kim Il Sung (김일성 생일 100주년 기념 조선준비위원회),[1] and the North Korean side's preparatory committee for the 2017 Paektu Mountain Great Figures Celebration (Japanese: 2017白頭山偉人称賛大会), which was held in honor of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.[11] During the 5th session of the 13th Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, she was elected as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, which had been revived after 19 years under the belief that it would improve North Korea's bilateral relations.[7][12] Kim was re-elected as a delegate in the 2019 North Korean parliamentary election,[13] but she was replaced as chairperson of the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries by Xu Huyuan, who attended a meeting on 22 December 2021 between Choe Ryong-hae and Chinese diplomat Li Jinjun.[14]
Awards and honors
- April 1992: Order of Kim Il Sung[1]
- February 2012: Order of Kim Jong Il[1]