Nam Il

Nam Il (June 5, 1915 – March 7, 1976) was a Russian-born North Korean military officer and co-signer of the Korean Armistice Agreement.[1]

Nam Il
Nam Il waiting to depart from the Korean War Armistice Negotiations site at Kaesong, Korea. August 1, 1951.
Birth name	Yakov Petrovich Nam
Born	5 June 1915 Russian Far East, (or North Hamgyong, Japanese Korea)
Died	7 March 1976 (aged 60) Pyongyang, North Korea
Buried	Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery, North Korea
Allegiance	North Korea  Soviet Union
Service/branch	Korean People's Army  Soviet Army
Years of service	1948–1976 1940s
Rank	General
Relations	Nam Jong-son
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	남일
Hancha	南日
Revised Romanization	Nam Il
McCune–Reischauer	Nam Il

History

Nam was born Yakov Petrovich Nam in the Russian Far East.[2] Due to a Soviet policy, Nam's family, like many Koreans in Russia's Far East, were moved to Central Asia. He was educated at Smolensk Military School and in Tashkent. Nam became chief of staff of a Soviet Army division during World War II. He took part in some of the greatest battles, including Stalingrad.[3]

When not serving in the military, he worked in the education sector. In 1946, he went work in the Soviet occupied North Korea, leaving behind a wife and daughter.[2] After war broke out in 1950 he was appointed Chief of Staff, replacing Kang Kon who had been killed in action. In 1953, Nam became a General of the Army (대장, three-star rank at the time).[2] When the Korean War reached a stalemate in July 1951, Nam served as the Communists' chief delegate at the armistice talks.[4] He was famous for using an amber cigarette holder.[5]

After the war, Nam Il served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Along with another Soviet Korean Pak Chong-ae, he worked to help Kim Il-sung break free from Soviet influence. In 1957, he was promoted and became one of several deputy Prime Ministers.[2] Nam, along with Pang Hak-se (the founder of the DPRK secret police), was one of only a few prominent Soviet Koreans who survived the purges of the 1950s.[2]

On 7 March 1976, it was announced that he had died when his car was crushed by a truck. Many suspected that this was not an accident, and some blamed Kim Jong-il, who by that time was not powerful enough to simply order Nam be killed. Others said that it was done by Kim Il-sung.[2][6] Nam Il's son, who lived in the Soviet Union, visited North Korea and attempted to investigate, but Pang Hak-se told him to go home and stop interfering in affairs which did not concern him.[2]

Nam was buried in Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery.[6] Unlike some of his colleagues who were purged, Nam continues to appear in historical photographs.[2]

Citations

1. "Transcript of Armistice Agreement for the Restoration of the South Korean State (1953)". US National Archives. July 27, 1953. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
2. Tertitskiy, Fyodor (19 July 2018). "Why do so many North Korean officials die in car crashes?". NK News.
3. Jager 2013, p. 195.
4. Futrell, p. 372.
5. Wilfred Burchett, Memoirs of a Rebel Journalist : The Autobiography of Wilfred Burchett (2005), edited by Nick Shimmin and George Burchett, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, New South Wales. ISBN 0-86840-842-5, p 385.
6. Bluth, Christoph (2008). Korea. Cambridge: Polity Press. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-07456-3357-2.

References

• Futrell, Robert F. (1961).The United States Air Force in Korea 1950-1953. Air Force History and Museums Program year 2000 reprint of original Duel, Sloan and Pearce edition. ISBNs 0160488796, 978–0160488795.
• Jager, Sheila Miyoshi (2013). Brothers at War – The Unending Conflict in Korea. London: Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-84668-067-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Media related to Nam Il at Wikimedia Commons