Content deleted Content added
No edit summary Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
added battle of berlin |
||
Line 74:
==Biography==
Nam was born '''Yakov Petrovich Nam''' in the Russian Far East.<ref name=NKN>{{cite news|url=https://www.nknews.org/2018/07/why-do-so-many-north-korean-officials-die-in-car-crashes|title=Why do so many North Korean officials die in car crashes?|first=Fyodor|last=Tertitskiy|work=NK News|date=19 July 2018}}</ref> 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 [[Battle of Stalingrad|Stalingrad]] and the [[Battle of Berlin]].{{sfn|Jager|2013|p=195}}
When not serving in the military, he worked in the education sector. In 1946, he went to work in the Soviet occupied North Korea, leaving behind a wife and daughter.<ref name=NKN/> 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).<ref name=NKN/> When the [[Korean War]] reached a stalemate in July 1951, Nam served as the Communists' chief delegate at the armistice talks.<ref>Futrell, p. 372.</ref> He was famous for using an amber [[cigarette holder]].<ref>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.</ref>
| |||