Choe Thae-bok, former president of the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea’s parliamentary body, has died at the age of 93, according to the state news agency KCNA. Thae-bok served as the top representative of the North Korean parliament for 21 years.
The official media reported the news on the occasion of the visit early this Sunday by the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, to Choe’s coffin along with other senior officials of the Workers’ Party (whose Central Committee he also headed) “to express his deepest condolences for his death,” detailed the aforementioned media.
“Kim paid silent tribute to Choe Thae-bok, who performed distinguished feats in the sacred struggle for the development of the Workers’ Party and the Government of the DPRK with his boundless loyalty to the leader, his transparent revolutionary principle and his devoted spirit. service to the country and its people,” he said.
DPRK stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.
The KCNA obituary calls Choe “a revolutionary fighter loyal to President Kim Il-sung (founder of North Korea and grandfather of the country’s current leader) and President Kim Jong-il (father of Kim Jong-un),” and of having been a “veteran political activist of the Party and the State.”
Born on December 1, 1930 in the province of South Pyongan, in the central part of North Korean territory, Choe Thae-bok was the longest-lived president of the Supreme People’s Assembly on record. He directed the organization between 1998 and 2019.
Fluent in English, German and Russian, Choe was loyal to the regime throughout three generations of its leaders and held key positions in fields such as education and foreign affairs.
Choe’s last public appearance was in 2022, at an event held to mark the anniversary of the founding of North Korea, on September 9.
