THE GUARDIAN: Kim Jong-il is understood to have suffered a heart attack on Saturday due to physical and mental over-work
Kim Jong-il, the "dear leader" still venerated by many in North Korea but reviled abroad, has died aged 69, state media announced on Monday morning.
The official KCNA news agency described his young son and heir apparent as "the great successor", urging the nation, people and military to rally behind and "faithfully revere" Kim Jong-un.
The North Korean leader suffered a heart attack on Saturday due to physical and mental over-work, KCNA reported. He was on his train, travelling to offer "field guidance" to workers, when he died.
Kim had recovered from a reported stroke in 2008, and Monday's announcement was unexpected. But he had already begun grooming Kim Jong-un to take control of the "hermit state", appointing him a general last year and giving him several high profile roles.
Experts say there is increasing domestic cynicism about the regime, which has proved incapable of meeting basic economic needs while exerting rigid control. Collective punishment has left an estimated 200,000 people in prison camps and last year the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea described the country's situation as "sui generis", adding: "Simply put, there are many instances of human rights violations which are both harrowing and horrific."
But people in the streets of Pyongyang burst into tears as they learnt of Kim's death, Associated Press reported. At a North Korean restaurant in Beijing, staff wept hysterically when told what had happened.
"It is the biggest loss for the party ... and it is our people and nation's biggest sadness," a tearful anchorwoman clad in black Korean traditional dress told viewers as she announced Kim's death.
She urged the nation to "change our sadness to strength and overcome our difficulties". » | Tania Branigan in Beijing | Monday, December 19, 2011
