South Korea's Urgent Diplomacy Over 'North Korea Kim Il-sung's Death'... US Carter Denied Attendance at Funeral Ceremony

Disclosure of 1994 Diplomatic Documents
The Sudden Death of Kim Il-sung and Emergency Response
Focus on Power Succession and the Geneva Talks
Unveiling 30-Year-Old Conversations Between South Korea and the U.S.

On Saturday, July 9, 1994, around 12 noon, news arrived from North Korea that "Chairman Kim Il-sung had died at 2 a.m. the previous day." This unexpected event occurred during a period of active dialogue between South and North Korea and between North Korea and the United States over the North Korean nuclear issue, prompting the diplomatic authorities to enter an emergency alert mode.

Portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are visible on the streets of Pyongyang. / 2018.09.18 Pyongyang Joint Photo Coverage Team

On the 28th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed a total of 380,000 pages of diplomatic documents from 1994 containing this information. The released materials included circumstances immediately following Kim Il-sung's death, the third phase of high-level North Korea-U.S. talks related to the nuclear issue, and the Geneva Agreed Framework. Upon receiving the sudden news of Kim Il-sung's death on a weekend afternoon, then-President Kim Young-sam issued a special alert to the entire military. The diplomatic authorities sent "ultra-urgent" telegrams to embassies worldwide, including the United States. Overseas missions immediately entered emergency mode to gather information on North Korea and reactions from various countries. Above all, there was great interest in the exact cause of Kim Il-sung's death and the subsequent power succession structure.

At that time, U.S. President Bill Clinton and key officials were in Naples, Italy, attending the Group of Seven (G7) summit. The North Korea-U.S. Geneva talks, scheduled to take place, were postponed due to Kim Il-sung's death. However, North Korea, which was eager to continue dialogue, requested the U.S. to allow the Geneva delegation to remain and conveyed a message expressing hope for the resumption of talks. South and North Korea were also scheduled to hold a summit in Pyongyang on the 25th of the same month, but it was canceled due to Kim Il-sung's death.

Conversations between South Korean and U.S. officials were also disclosed for the first time in 30 years, drawing attention. On the day the news of Kim Il-sung's death was delivered, Stanley Roth, Senior Director of the U.S. National Security Council (NSC), met with Ban Ki-moon, the charg? d'affaires at the South Korean Embassy in the U.S. During this meeting, it was revealed that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter had requested to attend the funeral but was refused by the North Korean side. There was also significant interest in Kim Jong-il, who was designated as the successor. At that time, the Deputy Director of the U.S. National Intelligence Council (NIC) met with Ban and, offering a personal opinion, stated that "the most likely scenario within several years is that opponents of Kim Jong-il will remove him."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.