NORTH KOREA'S NOMINEE

SAY IT AGAIN : North Korea's ''Tape Recorder'' head of state.

NORTH  KOREA'S ceremonial head of state  Kim Yong Nam is a career diplomat whose  unquestioning loyalty has ensured his survival for decades in the regime's top ranks.

KIM, who turns 90 this month, has served North's ruling Kim family for three generations, despite periodic purges of the Workers Party.

Leader Kim Jong Un had his own uncle executed for treason two years after coming to power, and his half-brother Kim Jong Nam was assassinated in a Malaysian airport last year, but-

Kim Yong Nam - who is not a close blood relative of the ruling family - has always survived.

Analysts ascribe his longevity to his suave manner and reliable devotion.

''He has never been considered a threat to the regime,'' said professor Yang Moon-jin of the  University of North Korean Studies.

''He's an amiable technocrat who faithfully follows the leader's directions,'' he told AFP.

South Korean analysts have nicknamed him ''Tape Recorder,'' he added. as he always parrots what has been said by the supreme leader.

Kim Yong Nam arrived in the South Friday for a three day visit, at the head of the North's diplomatic delegation to the Winter Olympics, accompanied by leader Kim's sister, two other senior officials, and 18 support staff.

[Agencies]