Brother of North Korea's founder Kim dies: state media

SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- Kim Yong-ju, a brother of North Korea's late founder Kim Il-sung, has died, according to Pyongyang's state media Wednesday.

The North's leader Kim Jong-un sent a wreath the previous day to express condolences over his death, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Kim Yong-ju was a former honorary vice chairman of the standing committee of the North's rubber-stamp Supreme People's Assembly, and a winner of the Order of Kim ll-sung and the Order of Kim Jong-il, the report said, without giving further details, such as when he died.

"Kim Yong-ju devotedly struggled to implement the Party's lines and policies and made a contribution to accelerating socialist construction and developing the Korean-style state social system, while working at important posts of the Party and the state for many years," it said.

Born in 1920, he was involved in a power struggle with Kim Jong-il, before the son of the national founder was tapped as the North's next leader. Kim Jong-il ruled the reclusive North after the death of his father in 1994 until 2011.

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