When did Kim Jong-il die?
Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack on the morning of December 17, 2011 while travelling on a train, for a standard “field guidance tour”, state media have claimed.
KCNA reported the 70-year-old tyrant suffered a “severe myocardial infarction along with a heart attack” at roughly 8.30am local time.
KCTV anchorwoman Ri Chun-hee announced Kim’s death to the nation 51 hours later in an impassioned TV broadcast.
Fighting back tears, she said: “Our great comrade Kim Jong-il, the general secretary of the Worker’s Party of Korea, the chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, and the supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, has passed away.
“He died of sudden illness on December 17. We make this announcement with great sorrow.”
Following Kim’s death, thousands of North Koreans from across the nation flocked to Pyongyang, the capital city, to hysterically mourn the death of their leader.
In 2012, South Korean media suggested Kim actually suffered a heart attack in a “fit of rage” over a poorly constructed hydroelectric plant.
Where is Kim Jong-il buried?
Kim Jong-il’s body was buried at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun alongside his father Kim Il-sung, in the heart of Pyongyang.
The funeral was scheduled for December 28, but was first prefaced with an 11-day-long period of national mourning.
During this time, Kim’s embalmed body was kept in a glass coffin as it lay in state.
On the day of the funeral, a 25-mile-long and three-hour-long funeral procession drove through Pyongyang, with a giant portrait of Kim mounted on top of a Lincoln Continental limousine.
One million mourners and soldiers lined the snow-covered streets of the city, crying out “Father, Father” for their leader.
Kim Yong-nam, Kim’s second in command and Chairman of the Presidium, addressed the mourners and their national outpouring of grief.
He cried: “The great heart of comrade Kim Jong-il has ceased to beat… such an unexpected and early departure from us is the biggest and the most unimaginable loss to our party and the revolution.”
What happened after Kim Jong-il’s death?
Following the death of Kim Jong-il, his third son Kim Jong-un was immediately pegged to take over the reins of power.
The young Kim was officially declared the supreme leader and chairman of the Worker’s Party, along a myriad of other titles, on December 28 2011.
“Respected Comrade Kim Jong-un is our party, military and country’s supreme leader who inherits great comrade Kim Jong-il’s ideology, leadership, character, virtues, grit and courage,” Kim Yong-nam said on the day of succession.
“The fact that he completely resolved the succession matter is Great Comrade Kim Jong-il’s most noble achievement.”
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