[2][3] Kang was the maternal uncle of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung.

[4] In his early years, Kang was a schoolteacher at Changdok School(one of his pupils was Kim Il Sung).

Kang became a close adviser to Kim Il Sung shortly after his return from the Soviet Union in October 1945.

[1] Kang later served as a Vice President of North Korea and a secretary of the Supreme People's Assembly.

Kim Il Sung mourned his death at a ceremony shortly afterward.