NORTH KOREAN LEADER KIM JONG IL HAS PASSED AWAY
North Korea’s longtime leader Kim Jong Il, the embodiment of the reclusive state where his cult of personality is deeply entrenched, has died, state TV announced. He was believed to be 69.
The announcement said that Mr Kim, who has led the communist nation since the death of his father in 1994, died on a train while visiting an area outside the capital. He suffered a stroke in 2008 and was absent from public view for months. The announcement of his death came in an emotional statement read out on national television.
Pyongyang described his son Kim Jong-un as the “great successor” and urged North Koreans to unite behind him.
A funeral for Kim Jong-il will be held in the capital Pyongyangon 28 December and Kim Jong-un will head the funeral committee, KCNA reports. A period of national mourning has been declared from 17 to 29 December.