Kim Ki Nam, the former chief of North Korea’s propaganda apparatus, died on May 7. Although some media outlets were quick to compare Kim’s six-decade career to Joseph Goebbels's impact on Nazi Germany, Kim’s trajectory and influence in the DPRK is far more complex.

His first big role was as a charge d’affaires in China back in 1957, just when Kim Il Sung was consolidating power by wiping out opposition and distancing North Korea from Soviet influence.