Pyongyang: North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has died at the age of 69 after suffering a heart attack, country’s state television said on Monday.
Kim Jong-iI had been battling ailing health in recent years. It is believed he suffered a stroke in 2008.
The news has apparently shocked the people of North Korea. Kim Jong-il had ruled the country since the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. Kim Jong-il’s youngest son, Kim Jong-un, has reportedly been named as his successor.
The South Korean military has announced an emergency alert and its National Security Council is convening for an emergency meeting following the news from the North, Yonhap news agency reports.
Meanwhile, as the news broke, Pyongyang’s long-standing enemy, South Korea put its armed forces on high alert, while the government has declared the situation an emergency.
It is now a mystery for the world as to what is now in store for North Korea with its leader Kim Jong-il gone. However, he was no less mysterious himself while in office.
A massive military parade was held in 2008 to mark North Korea’s 60th anniversary. General Kim Jong-il was not there to greet the crowd – reports suggested he suffered a stroke.
In 2003, reports claimed Kim Jong-il died of diabetes and had been replaced in public by stand-ins hired previously as a security measure.
He never spoke to the media, had a profound fear of flying, and ate with special chopsticks which could detect poison.
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