Kim Yong-nam: Current President of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea. Born in Pyongyang in 1928. In 1956, he served as Director of the Department of International Affairs of the Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee, and became Deputy Minister in 1961. In September 1963, he was appointed as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1970, he was elected as a member of the Workers' Party Central Committee. In 1972, he became the Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee. In April 1974, he was selected as an alternate member of the Central Political Committee, promoted to full committee member in 1978, and in 1980, he was elected as a member of the Central Political Bureau and Secretary of the Secretariat. In December 1983, he assumed the role of Vice Premier concurrently serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs. In September 1998, he was elected as President of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly. He officially visited China twice in February 1984 and November 1988 in his capacity as Vice Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in June 1999, he led the North Korean State Delegation for an official friendly visit to China.