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Kim Jong Il

December 19, 2011 by · Comments Off on Kim Jong Il 

Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Il, the diminutive North Korean dictator whose provocations and brinkmanship confounded three U.S. presidents and raised tension across northeast Asia, has died. He was 69.

Kim’s death was announced Monday by state television in a “special broadcast” from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, the Associated Press reported. The state media report said Kim died of a heart ailment on a train because of a “great mental and physical strain” on Saturday during a “high intensity field inspection.” It said an autopsy was done Sunday and “fully confirmed” the diagnosis.

North Korea will hold a national mourning period until Dec. 29. Kim’s funeral will be Dec. 28, it said.

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.

South Korean media, including the Yonhap news agency, said South Korea put its military on “high alert.” President Lee Myung Bak convened a national security council meeting after the news of Kim’s death.

Yonhap reported that North Korea conducted at least one short-range missile test on Monday, but two South Korean military officials said they couldn’t confirm the report and that any firing would be part of a routine drill.

Kim Jong-Il

December 19, 2011 by · Comments Off on Kim Jong-Il 

Kim Jong-IlKim Jong-Il, India is closely watching developments in North Korea following the death of its longtime leader Kim Jong-il, which could improve New Delhi’s ties with the reclusive country whose nuclear programme and its export of missile technology to Pakistan have been a cause of much concern here.

New Delhi is watching the events in North Korea closely, said official sources.

Kim Jong-il, the supreme leader of nuclear-armed North Korea, died Saturday during a train journey. He was 69.

Reports from Pyongyang strongly indicate that Kim’s youngest son Kim Jong-un has succeeded as the ruler of the country.

Not many are expecting any dramatic change in the power structure, but Kim’s successor could bring in his own people and change some policies to consolidate his power base.

The death of Kim Jong-il comes at a time when India’s relations with North Korea, which have always been shadowed by Pyongyang’s covert export of missile technology to Islamabad through Pakistan’s A.Q. Khan network, have shown some signs of improvement.

In March this year, India was quick to respond to a food crunch in North Korea by providing $1 million through the World Food Programme. Pyongyang lauded India’s timely assistance.

For the first time in the last decade, North Korean foreign minister visited the Indian embassy at the Republic Day function in Pyongyang Jan 26. A few days later, the North Korean vice foreign minister invited the Indian ambassador for dinner, said sources, citing these instances as a warming of ties between the two countries.

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