Kim dies of ‘multiple malfunctions’

Kim Ki Nam (inset photo), the regime’s former propaganda chief, has died at the age of 94, according to state media.

He died of old age and “multiple organ dysfunction” for which he had been receiving treatment since 2022, North Korean news agency KCNA said.

The BBC recalls that the late propaganda chief contributed for decades to the construction of a cult of personality around the ruling Kim dynasty.

Kim Ki Nam’s funeral took place on Wednesday morning, and the ceremony was attended by the supreme leader himself, Kim Jong Un.

He said of the deceased that he was “a veteran revolutionary who remained boundlessly loyal” to the country’s leadership.

Despite the name, Kim Ki Nam is not related to the ruling Kim dynasty.

The surname Kim is among the most common in North Korea.

In reporting on Kim Ki Nam’s death, South Korean news agency Yonhap compared him to Nazi Germany’s propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels, who was known, among other things, for thinking that “a lie told a million times becomes truth”.

Kim Ki Nam, a pillar of North Korean propaganda in the service of the Kim dynasty

Kim Ki Nam was appointed deputy director of Pyongyang’s Propaganda and Agitation Department in 1966 and worked closely with Kim Jong Il, the predecessor and father of the current leader, Kim Jong Un.

Later, he took over the leadership of this department and played a crucial role in conveying public messages in the service of the ruling Kim dynasty, the BBC recalls.

He would have had a good personal relationship with the father of the current head of state, the two being “best friends”, according to several concordant sources.

In the 1970s, he was appointed in charge of the Rodong Sinmun newspaper.

The propaganda department led by Kim Ki Nam facilitated Kim Jong Un’s seizure of power after his father’s death in 2011.

“No force on earth can stop the revolutionary advance of our party, army and people under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Un,” KCNA reported at the time.

The former head of North Korean propaganda, honored with the front page of the official regime, upon his death

Kim Ki Nam stepped down at the end of the last decade, ceding his role to Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong.

He continued to appear at public events, a sign that he remained on good terms with the regime, notes the BBC.

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“Kim Jong Un kept Kim Ki Nam in key propaganda positions for years, indicating that, like his father, he trusted and relied on him,” said Rachel Lee, senior researcher at the US-based think tank 38 North Program.

Lee noted in this context that the North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun devoted its entire front page on Wednesday to the death of Kim Ki Nam and the details of his funeral, and this “shows the respect given to him”.

Source: BBC