Ho Dam

Ho Dam
허담
Ho in 1972
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
1970–1983
Preceded byPak Song-chol
Succeeded byKim Yong-nam
Personal details
Born6 March 1929
Genzan, Kankyōnan-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan
(today Wonsan, Kangwon Province, North Korea
Died11 May 1991(1991-05-11) (aged 62)
Pyongyang, North Korea
Political partyWorkers' Party of Korea
SpouseKim Jong Suk
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
허담
Hancha
許錟
Revised RomanizationHeo Dam
McCune–ReischauerHŏ Tam

Ho Dam (Korean허담; MRHŏ Dam; March 6, 1929 – May 11, 1991)[1] was a North Korean politician, and Foreign Minister from 1970 to 1983.[2]

He was a member of the ruling Politburo of North Korea's Communist Party, and was also chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, which made nominal efforts to reunite the Communist North with the capitalist South.[2]

As Foreign Minister in 1977, he became the first senior North Korean official to visit the United States. He left the Foreign Minister's job in 1983 and became secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea. In 1980, he accompanied Kim Il Sung to Belgrade, Yugoslavia for the funeral of the Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980).

In 1990 he was named chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's parliament.[2]

Ho Dam died on May 11, 1991, from a long illness, according to KCNA. The news agency did not specify the cause of death.[2]

  1. ^ "Index Ho-Hy".
  2. ^ a b c d Associated Press (May 14, 1991). "Ho Dam; North Korean Official, 62". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2014-06-21. Retrieved June 21, 2014.