Kim Ki-nam died on Tuesday, the official KCNA news agency said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un came today to personally say goodbye to the deceased, paid his respects at his coffin “a revolutionary veteran who remained boundlessly loyal” to his country to the end.
Kim Ki-nam was one of the closest associates of the three communist leaders of the DPRK: the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung, his successor, Kim Jong-il, as well as the current ruler of the country, Kim Jong-un. “He devoted himself to promoting the victorious path of building a powerful socialist country by maintaining a powerful offensive and fresh development in the new era in all spheres of the Party’s ideological work,” KCNA reported.
Kim Ki-nam is one of the few North Korean officials who have visited South Korea in the performance of their duties: in 2009, he led a delegation to the funeral of South Korean President Kim Tae-jung, who sought reconciliation with Pyongyang.
Kim Ki-nam has held leading positions in the North Korean propaganda machine since 1966, when he became its deputy, then its head in 1985. It was still under the rule of Kim Il-sung. He retired in 2017.
Kim Jong-il (right) died on December 17, 2011. On the left, his predecessor Kim Il-sung. | CTK
According to North Korea expert Michael Madden of the American Stimson Center, Kim had Ki-nam wielded enormous influence over policy and personnel matters in the DPRK and was a key developer of the ruling Korean Party’s program work.
He was particularly close to Kim Jong-il, the father of current leader Kim Jong-un, who died in 2011. He was considered his “drinking buddy” Madden said, citing his sources.
