Kim Jong Il, known in North Korea as the 'iron-willed commander' and 'Dear Leader' came to power after his father, the country's founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994. Photo: AP
Kim's death was announced on December 19 by the State television from Pyongyang. The leader is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008. In the photo, a woman reads a Japanese newspaper that reports Kim's death at Ginza district in Tokyo. Photo: AP
In this July 26, 2001 file photo, Kim Jong Il, rings a bell, which was presented to him at Khasan railway station. While North Korean legend has it that Kim was born on Mount Paekdu in 1942 and that his birth was heralded in the heavens by a pair of rainbows and a brilliant new star, Soviet records indicate he was born in Siberia in 1941. Photo: AP
In this April 1981 file photo, Kim Jong Il gestures while taking a stroll with his father, Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang. Kim Jong Il, groomed for 20 years to lead the communist nation founded by his guerrilla fighter-turned-politician father, was 33 when his father anointed him his successor. Photo: AP
After inheriting power in 1994, Kim Jong Il eventually took over the posts of chairman of the National Defence Commission, commander of the Korean People’s Army and head of the ruling Worker’s Party. This August 4, 2009 file photo shows Kim with former U.S. President Bill Clinton, in Pyonggyang. Photo: AP
Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright with Kim Jong Il upon her arrival at Paekhwawon, the Hundred Flower State Guest House, in Pyongyang, in October 2003. Madeleine Albright has described Kim as intelligent and well-informed, saying the two had wide-ranging discussions during her visits to Pyongyang. Photo: AP
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during a meeting at a military garrison, outside Ulan-Ude, on August 24, 2011. Kim rarely travelled abroad and only by train because of an alleged fear of flying, once heading all the way by a luxury rail car to Moscow. Photo: AP
In this August 27, 2010 photo Chinese President Hu Jintao meets the North Korean leader in northeast China's Jilin province. A man of wide interests that included professional basketball and cars, Kim also produced several North Korean films, mostly historical epics with an ideological tinge. Photo: AP
Kim Jong Il sought to build up North Korea's nuclear arms arsenal, which culminated in its first nuclear test explosion, an underground blast conducted in October 2006. Another test came in 2009. In the photo, Kim watches training of Seoul Ryu Kyong Su 105 Guards Tank Division of the KPA in December 2010. Photo: AP
In September 2010, Kim Jong Il unveiled his third son, Kim Jong Un (right), as his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts. After his death on Monday, North Korea on Monday urged its people to rally behind the "great successor" stating the people and the military “have pledged to uphold the leadership of comrade Kim Jong Un”. Photo: AP
Published - December 19, 2011 01:53 pm IST
