Yon Hyong-muk, also spelt Yong Hyong-muk (November 3, 1931 – October 22, 2005), was a long-serving politician in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

and at the height of his career the most powerful person in that country outside the Kim family. He was

Prime Minister of North Korea The Premier of the Cabinet () is the head of government of North Korea and a key adviser to the Supreme Leader of North Korea. The office is also alternatively known as Prime Minister of North Korea. The prime minister of North Korea is the ...

from 1988 to 1992. He was born in

Kyongwon County Kyŏngwŏn County is a ''kun'', or county, in North Hamgyong province, North Korea, located at , formerly known as Saebyŏl. It is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the north and east, Kyonghung to the southeast, Hoeryong to the south ...

and had a strong revolutionary background in his family. He was educated locally and employed as a farm worker. Yon was educated in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and by the 1950s, he was firmly established within the hierarchy of the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of ...

. In 1967 he was selected as a deputy to the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the unicameral legislature of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of the DPRK's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year ...

. During the 1970s, Yon further advanced in the Party and by the middle 1980s he was regarded as the fourth most powerful person in North Korea after

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 ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

, and veteran marshal and defence minister

O Jin-u O Jin-u (March 8, 1917 – February 25, 1995) was a North Korean general and politician. He served with Kim Il-sung's partisan unit and eventually rose through the ranks of the North Korean Army. He distinguished himself during the Korean War an ...

. He was a candidate member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

from the early 1980s and became Prime Minister of North Korea in 1989. During this era, Yon served as Minister of Heavy Industry and this consolidated his role in the North's large

armaments A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

sector. In this period, as Kim Il-sung and O Jin-u were both already past eighty, Yon took an important role in relations between North and South Korea. He worked hard in this field as Prime Minister and was regarded as the chief negotiator behind the '' Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-aggression and Exchanges and Cooperation between the South and the North'' (also known as the "South-North Basic Agreement") of 1991. At the time he called it "the most valuable achievement ever made between the South and North Korean authorities." For the rest of the 1990s, Yon was the chief figure behind efforts to reconcile the two Koreas. By the 2000s, Yon was declining in health and his role in

North Korean politics The politics of North Korea (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or DPRK) takes place within the framework of the official state philosophy, Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism. ''Juche'', which is a part of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, ...

had become largely ceremonial by the time he died - presumably of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

for which he had received treatment in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in 2004 at the well protected

Central Clinical Hospital The Central Clinical Hospital of the Administrative directorate of the President of the Russian Federation (russian: Центральная клиническая больница c поликлиникой Управления делами Пре ...

. Yon was a recipient of the

Order of Kim Il-sung The Order of Kim Il-sung () is the highest order of North Korea, along with the Order of Kim Jong-il, and only second to one honorary title, the Hero of Labour. The order, named after the country's first leader Kim Il-sung, was instituted in 1 ...

, Hero of Labor and other awards.

Death and funeral

Yon died on 22 October 2005. A funeral committee chaired by

Jo Myong-rok Jo Myong-lok (12 July 1928 – 6 November 2010) was a North Korean military officer who held the military rank Chasu (Vice Marshal). In 1998, he was appointed First Vice-Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, Director ...

was appointed. Its members were: #

Kim Yong-nam Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

Pak Pong-ju Pak Pong-ju (; born 10 April 1939) is a North Korean politician who served as the Premier of North Korea from 2003 to 2007 and again from 2013 to 2019. He was elected a member of the Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 2016. Earl ...

Kim Yong-chun Kim Yong-chun (4 March 1936 – 16 August 2018) was a North Korean soldier and politician. He was a leader of the North Korean military. He held the North Korean military rank Chasu (Vice Marshal), was Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commi ...

Kim Il-chol Kim Il-chol (, born 1933) is a former member of the North Korean National Defence Commission and former Minister for Defence. He was born in Pyongyang in 1933. He graduated from Mangyongdae Revolutionary School and the "Soviet Union Naval Acad ...

Jon Pyong-ho Jon Pyong-ho (, 20 March 1926 – 7 July 2014) was a North Korean officer and politician who served as the Chief Secretary of the Korean Workers Party (KWP) Committee of the North Korean Cabinet, and director of the DPRK Cabinet Political Burea ...

Ri Yong-mu Ri Yong-mu (25 January 1925 – 27 January 2022) was a North Korean senior official who was a member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea, vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea and vice-marshal of the Korean P ...

Choe Thae-bok Choe Thae-bok (born 1 December 1930) is a North Korean politician. He is a member of the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Workers' Party of Korea, and was Chairman (speaker) of the Supreme People's Assembly for nearly 21 years, from 1998 to 2 ...

Yang Hyong-sop 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 and Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly from 1983 to 1998 (from 1994 it was form ...

Choe Yong-rim Choe Yong-rim (, born 20 November 1930) is a North Korean politician who served as the Premier of North Korea from June 2010 to April 2013 and was a member of the 6th Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea.

# Kim Ki-nam #

Kim Jung-rin Kim Jung-rin () (7 December 1923 – 28 April 2010) was a North Korean politician who was an alternate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, as well as a member of the Politburo and party secretary. ...

Hong Song-nam Hong Song-nam (2 October 1929 – 31 March 2009) was a North Korean politician who was the Premier of North Korea from 1998 to 2003. He succeeded Kang Song-san. Born in Kangwon Province, he graduated from the Kim Il-sung University and studied ...

Kwak Pom-gi Kwak Pom-gi (born 20 November 1939) is a North Korean government official. After graduating from Huichon Industrial College, he began his career in 1983 as a machine factory manager, progressing through the machinery bureau of the Workers' Par ...

Ro Tu-chol Ro Tu-chol (, born 2 October 1950) is a Vice Premier of North Korea's cabinet and the Chairman of the State Planning Commission. During Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev's three-day visit to Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the ca ...

Jon Sung-hun Jon Sung-hun ( ko, 전승훈; born October 27, 1951) is a North Korean politician. He was an alternate of the 7th Central Committee and a member of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and member of the 13th convocation of ...

# Kim Yong-dae #

Ryu Mi-yong Ryu Mi-yong (14 February 1921 – 23 November 2016) was the chairwoman of the North Korean Chondoist Chongu Party. She was a standing committee member of the 10th Supreme People's Assembly. She was known as a South Korean defectors, defector fro ...

# Paek Se-pong #

Pak Yong-sok Pak Yong-sok ( ko, 박용석; 1928 – March 17, 2007) was a North Korean politician, member of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, a government minister and a member of the Supreme People’s Assembly."朴容錫氏死去　� ...

Pak Nam-gi Pak Nam-gi or Park Nam-ki (21 February 1934 – 17 March 2010) was, until as late as January 2010, Director of the Planning and Finance Department of the ruling party of North Korea. There are doubts about his date of birth, with at least two una ...

# Ri Kwang-ho # #

Ri Yong-chol Ri Yong-chol (; born 8 January 1991) is a North Korean footballer who currently plays as a defender for North Korean club Hwaebul Sports Club. International career Ri made his first senior international appearance in a friendly in and agains ...

# Ri Je-kang #

Ri Jae-il Ri Jae-il ( ko, 리재일, 1935 – 4 February 2021) was a North Korean politician and a member of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers' Party of Korea as well as member of the Supreme People's Assembly. Biography Ri Jae il w ...

Ju Kyu-chang Ju Kyu-chang (25 November 1928 – 3 September 2018) was a North Korean politician, who served as the director of the Workers' Party of Korea's (WPK) Machine-Building Industry Department. Ju was reportedly the head of North Korea's nuclear and ...

Kim Jong-im Kim Jong-im ( ko, 김정임) is a North Korean politician. She is one of the few women (among others, Kim Kyong-hui, Kim Rak-hui and Han Kwang-bok) who perform the highest functions in the North Korean government apparatus. She is a member of t ...

# Kim Yang-kon # Ju Sang-song #

Ri Myong-su Ri Myong-su ( ko, 리명수; born on 20 February 1934 in Myongchon, North Hamgyong) is the former chief of General Staff of the Korean People's Army from 2016 to 2018. Ri was a confidant and military aide of the former North Korean leader Kim Jo ...

Hyon Chol-hae Hyon Chol-hae ( ko, 현철해/玄哲海;August 13, 1934 – May 19, 2022) was a North Korean military officer. He was born in Country Yanji,Province Jilin,Manchukuo. During the Korean War, Hyon served as Kim Il-sung's bodyguard, a role which ...

# Kim Ki-son # Pak Jae-kyong #

Kim Yang-chom Kim Yang-chom ( ko, 김양점) is a North Korean general and politician. Biography He was born in 1944. In 1981 he became Senior Staff of the Department of Engineers of the Ministry of People's Armed Forces. In April 1991 he was appointed to Majo ...

# Pak Sung-won #

Choe Pu-il General Choe Pu-il (; born 6 March 1944) is a North Korean politician who served as head of North Korea's Ministry of People's Security. Biography In April 1992, he was promoted to Major General and to General in October 1995. After serving as ...

# Ri Thae-won # Sim Sang-dae #

Ri Thae-nam Ri Thae-nam ( ko, 리태남; February 26, 1938 – 2013) was a North Korean politician who was Vice Premier of North Korea between 2010 and 2011. He was a candidate for the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea, Political Bureau of the Centra ...

Kim Phyong-hae Kim Phyong-hae (, born 8 October 1941) is a North Korean politician. He was a Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the director of the Cadres' Affairs Department of the WPK. He is a full member of the 7th Central Committee o ...

Kim Rak-hui Kim Rak-hui (, 11 November 1933 – February 2013) was a North Korean politician. Kim worked in the agricultural and cooperatives section for most of her working life. During the Korean War, her efforts in rationing caught the attention of Kim I ...

# Ro Pae-kwon #

Kim Kyong-ho Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

Pak To-chun General Pak To-chun ( ko, 박도춘; 9 March 1944 — 27 July 2022) was a politician of North Korea. According to his official biography, Pak was born in Jagang Province in 1944 and joined the Korean People's Army in 1960 (becoming a general i ...

# Ryom Sun-gil # Kang Chang-uk # Pak Sun-hui

Works

* * *

References

{{NKPMs 1931 births 2005 deaths People from Kyongwon County Prime Ministers of North Korea North Korean military personnel Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in North Korea Recipients of the Order of Kim Il-sung Alternate members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Secretariat 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