News of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was delivered early on Monday by a teary-eyed television reporter on state-run TV.
Referred to as the Dear Leader and Our Father, Kim Jong-il died while traveling by train on Saturday. He was 69 and, according to a state-authorized report, died of advanced acute myocardial infarction, i.e. a heart attack.
North Korea is, technically, still in a 51-year state of war with its neighbor South Korea, and Kim's death could bring about instability in a nuclear-armed state. South Korea, according to its Yonhap news agency, has placed its military on alert.
Kim Jong-il is believed to have been born in the Soviet Union in 1941, despite his regime's story that he was born in an anti-Japanese guerrilla camp on Mount Baekdu in northern Korea. He came to power in 1994 on the death of his father, Kim Il-Sung. The state carried out its first ever nuclear test, in 2006, before repeating the test three years later.
The government has proclaimed Kim Jong-il's third son, Kim Jong-un, who is in his late 20s, as the Great Successor.
Check out some photographs of Kim Jong-il ove rthe years:
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il (R) and South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun pose after they exchanged the joint statement in Pyongyang Oct. 4, 2007. The leaders of North and South Korea pledged to bring peace to the Cold War's last frontier by seeking talks with China and the United States to formally end the 1950-1953 Korean War. But Kim Jong-li's death heralds instability in both the states.REUTERSNorth Korea's Prime Minister Kim Yong-il climbs out a tunnel while visiting the Cu Chi tunnel system in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh city Oct. 30, 2007.REUTERS/Nguyen Huy KhamNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-il inspects a sub-unit of the Korean People's Army unit 350 at an undisclosed location in North Korea in this undated picture taken by North Korea's official news agency KCNA and distributed by Korea News Service on April 5, 2008.REUTERSNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-il (L) walks in front of his youngest son Kim Jong-un as they watch a parade to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang Oct. 10, 2010.REUTERSNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-il looks at soldiers taking part in a military parade in Kim Il-Sung Square in Pyongyang Sept. 9, 2011, in this picture released by North Korea's official KCNA news agency on Saturday, the 63rd anniversary of the state's founding.REUTERSA tearful announcer (R) dressed in black announces the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on North Korean State Television in this still image from video December 19, 2011. A North Korean woman (L) holding flowers arrives at the North Korea embassy to mourn the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Beijing Dec. 19, 2011.REUTERS
