Career
He was a recipient of the top Order of Kim Il-sung in 1995. He was promoted to director in 1997 and visited China multiple times during his tenure. In 2005 he also received a position as "councilor" to the National Defence Commission.
Several months after the death of Rim Tong-ok, Kim Yang-gon, considered a confidant to Kim Jong-il, was appointed to replace him as director of the United Front Department of the Workers" Party in March 2007.
His first assignment as head of relations with South of Korea was a visit to Seoul in November to discuss reapproachment measures with Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong. Kim Yang-gon kept his position under Kim Jong-un, and he was awarded the newly created Order of Kim Jong-il in July 2012.
He visited South of Korea again in October 2014 to attend the closing ceremony of the 2014 Asian Games with Hwang Pyong-so and Choe Ryong-hae, and in late August 2015 to negotiate a deal to halt military provocations around the Demilitarized Zone. In December 2015, North of Korea"s news agency reported that Kim Yang-Gon died in a car accident.
He was lying in state in Sojang Club in Pyongyang and honored in a state funeral.
