Kim Jong-il Dead? (Breaking on MSNBC / CNN News)

Kim Jong-il, also written as Kim Jong Il, birth name Yuri Irsenovich Kim (According to Soviet records) (16 February 1941 (Soviet records) or 16 February 1942 (North Korean records) – 17 December 2011), was the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). He was the Chairman of the National Defence Commission, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, the ruling party since 1948, and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, the fourth largest standing army in the world. In April 2009, North Korea's constitution was amended and now implicitly refers to him as the "Supreme Leader". He was also referred to as the "Dear Leader", "our Father", "the General" and "Generalissimo". His son Kim Jong-un was promoted to a senior position in the ruling Workers' Party and is heir apparent. In 2010 he was ranked 31st in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People.

The North Korean government announced his death on December 18, 2011.

Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic leader, has died. He was 69.

Kim's death was announced Monday by state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

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 leader, reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine, was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.

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.

[APNEWS]