N. Korea's former SPA chairman dies: state media
This picture taken and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 21, 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) visiting the bier of Choe Thae Bok, the former secretary of the Central Committee of The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), at an undisclosed place in North Korea.
- By Agence France-Presse (AFP)
- January 21, 2024 5:13 PM
Choe died from a heart attack on Saturday, according to the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper. He was 93.
Kim visited Choe's funeral bier with the ruling Worker's Party officials at dawn on Sunday "to express his deep condolences over his death", the report said.
"Kim Jong Un paid silent tribute to Choe Thae Bok who performed distinguished feats in the sacred struggle for the development of the WPK and the DPRK government," it added, using the acronym of the North's official name.
The report described Choe as "a revolutionary fighter faithful to President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il", the grandfather and father of the current North Korean leader.
Choe, who was elected as chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) in 1998 and held the position until his retirement in 2019, is believed to be the longest-serving chairman in the North's parliament.
Fluent in German, Russian and English, Choe regularly travelled outside North Korea, according to NK leadership watch, an online website that researches and analyses North Korean figures.
The website adds Choe had close ties with Kim's once powerful aunt Kim Kyong Hui -- whose husband Jang Song Thaek was executed in 2013 -- and describes him as being "intelligent with an upbeat, cheerful personality".
Choe's last public appearance was at an event to celebrate the North's founding day on September 9 in 2022.
© Agence France-Presse
