North Korea’s “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il Dies Aged 69
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has passed away at the age of 69, according to the communist state’s television announcement.
In the televised report, the North Korean broadcaster, clad in a black funeral dress and weeping, reported that Kim died due to “overwork” after “dedicating his life to the people.” Kim’s funeral is set for December 28 in Pyongyang, with the mourning period expected to last till December 29.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has passed away at the age of 69, according to the communist state’s television announcement.
In the televised report, the North Korean broadcaster, clad in a black funeral dress and weeping, reported that Kim died due to “overwork” after “dedicating his life to the people.” Kim’s funeral is set for December 28 in Pyongyang, with the mourning period expected to last till December 29.
South Korean news agency Yonhap said Kim had died during a train trip. Kim preferred travelling by train as he was terrified of flying.
The leader, reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine, was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.
In wake of the North Korean leader’s death, South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak has cancelled all planned schedules, with the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff declaring an emergency alert and increasing its monitoring activities along the border.
Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media.
The news came as North Korea prepared for a hereditary succession. Kim Jong Il inherited power after his father, revered North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994.
In September 2010, Kim Jong Il unveiled his third son, the twenty-something Kim Jong Un, as his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts.
According to a senior Seoul officer, North Korea and the United States are likely to delay bilateral nuclear talks set for this week in Beijing. Pyongyang and Washington are set to hold the third round of meetings on Thursday to resume the long-stalled six-nation talks on the North’s nuclear weapons programme.
In 2002, U.S. president George W. Bush denounced the North Korean leader as a member of an “axis of evil” that also included Iran and Iraq. He also described Kim as a “tyrant” who starved his people so he could build nuclear weapons.
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