Kim Yong Ju, the younger brother of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung who played a major role in state affairs until being sidelined in the 1970s, has died at the age of 101.

The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper announced his death in a short article on Wednesday, reporting that current leader Kim Jong Un, who is Kim Yong Ju’s grandnephew, sent a wreath to the funeral bier of the deceased.

The old man of North Korean politics, Kim Yong Ju was one of the most significant figures in the country’s history and was at one time thought to be