Kim Ki-nam (; born August 28, 1934) is a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

n official. He is a former Vice Chairman (previously Secretary) of the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of ...

, and Director of the

Propaganda and Agitation Department The Propaganda and Agitation Department (PAD, ), officially translated as the Publicity and Information Department, is a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) tasked with coordinating the creation and dissemina ...

from 1989 until 2017, responsible for coordinating the country's press, media, fine arts, and publishing to support government policy. He was also a vice-chairman of the

Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) is a North Korean state agency aimed at promoting Korean reunification. Overview The CPRK was not a governmental body per se but rather an offshoot of the Korean Workers' Party's Unit ...

, in which capacity he led numerous visits to the South, and has served several terms in the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the unicameral legislature of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of the DPRK's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year ...

, to which he was first elected in November 1977.

Early life and career

Kim Ki-nam was born in

Anda, Heilongjiang Anda () is a county-level city in western Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, located on the Harbin-Manzhouli Railway (formerly known as the Chinese Eastern Railway) about southeast of Daqing and northwest of Harbin, capital of He ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

A graduate from the

Kim Il-sung University Kim Il-sung University, founded on 1 October 1946, is the first university built in North Korea. It is located on a campus in Pyongyang, the nation's capital. Along with the main academic buildings, the campus contains 10 separate offices, 50 l ...

and Soviet party schools, at first he worked in foreign affairs (being North Korea's ambassador to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

in the early 1950s) before moving to the

in the late 1960s. In 1974, he was appointed editor of the Party's theoretical magazine, ''

Kulloja ''Kunloja'' (; ) is a political magazine published in North Korea. Launched in 1946 it is published monthly and is an official publication of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. History and profile ''Kunloja'' was first publis ...

'', and in 1976 he was promoted to editor-in-chief of ''

Rodong Sinmun ''Rodong Sinmun'' (; ) is a North Korean newspaper that serves as the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on November 1, 1945, as ''Chŏngro'' (), serving as a communication channel ...

''. He is credited with having produced articles and essays creating the cult of

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

and praising

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

's historic role. He was elected to the 6th Central Committee at the 6th Party Congress in October 1980, director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department in April 1989 and simultaneously secretary for propaganda and party history in 1992. Kim Ki-nam was the party's propaganda boss and key author of the country's political slogans during Kim Jong-il's regime. He was given a role in ensuring

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

's succession drive and appointed to the 6th Politburo in September 2010. He was one of the only two civilian officials who accompanied Kim Jong-il's coffin during his funeral in December 2011, the other being Choe Thae-bok. He was also given a seat in the

State Affairs Commission The State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (SAC) is defined by the 2016 constitution as "the supreme policy-oriented leadership body of State power." The current president of the SAC, which is defined by the same ...

in June 2016 when it was established. He was replaced in October 2017 by

Pak Kwang-ho Pak Kwang-ho (, born 1949) is a North Korean politician and was director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department. He was replaced by Ri Il-hwan Ri Il-hwan (, born 1960) is a North Korean politician, a member of the Political Bureau of th ...

in all his functions at a Central Committee plenum. In 2016, he was placed under sanctions by the United States government.

Works

References

External links

* Members of the Supreme People's Assembly People from Wonsan 1934 births Living people Members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Vice Chairmen of the Workers' Party of Korea and its predecessors {{NorthKorea-politician-stub

Early life and career

Works

See also

References

External links