SEOUL, South Korea and TOKYO, Japan (AP) – Kim Ki Nam, a North Korean propaganda chief who helped build personality cults around the country's three dynastic leaders for decades, has died at 94. The news was announced by North Korea's state media on May 8th.
Born in the late 1920s, Kim Ki Nam began overseeing propaganda and ideology control operations in the 1980s. He worked as a chief editorial writer for Rodong Sinmun before his promotion. His role earned him notoriety in South Korea, where media nicknamed him the 'North Korean Goebbels' after Nazi Germany's propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
According to reports from multiple sources, Kim Ki Nam spent decades overseeing propaganda operations in North Korea and was known to have stepped down from most official posts after being excluded from a group of top officials in 2017. He briefly reappeared in state media photos in January 2019, where he was seen shaking hands with members of an art delegation heading to China.
In 2009, Kim Ki Nam led the North Korean delegation to South Korea for the funeral of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who had pursued engagement with the North and held a summit with former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. He was one of seven senior officials who accompanied the hearse of late leader Kim Jong Il following his death in 2011.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the funeral hall of Kim Ki Nam at 2 a.m. on May 8th and will lead the state funeral committee for his burial, according to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Pyongyang's state media reported that Kim Jong Un paid silent tribute to Kim Ki Nam, who made contributions to the sacred struggle for the development of the Workers Party of Korea and modeling revolutionary ranks on monolithic ideology and victorious advance of socialist cause.
Kim Ki Nam was a professor at Kim Il Sung University and served as chief editorial writer for Rodong Sinmun before taking leadership roles in the ruling Workers' Party's propaganda departments starting in the 1980s.
The exact cause of death is not mentioned, but KCNA reported that Kim Ki Nam died Tuesday after being treated for age-related illnesses and multiple organ dysfunctions for the past year.
