He took part in anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare, and studied in Soviet Union.
In November 1970, he became a member of the 5th WPK Political Committee at the 5th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea.
He was elected vice president at the 4th meeting of the 5th convocation of the Supreme People's Assembly in November 1974 and was mainly involved in diplomacy.
In June 1976, at the party political committee, he said, "The successor's emergence is too quick.
He is assumed to have been purged and exiled due to his opposition to the Kim Jong Il succession, and later detained in a concentration camp.