 North Korean leader Kim Jong-il waves at a military parade to celebrate the 63rd founding anniversary of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in Pyongyang in this Sept. 9, 2011 file photo. Kim, 69, died of a heart attack Saturday. / AFP-Yonhap |
N. Korea calls Kim’s son ‘great successor’; funeral scheduled for Dec. 28
By Kim Young-jin
Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader who ruthlessly controlled his Stalinist nation and kept South Koreans on constant edge with his “military-first” politics, died of a heart attack Saturday. He was 69.
State TV announced in a “special broadcast” Monday that the mercurial leader passed away from “a severe myocardial infarction along with a heart attack,” and “great mental and physical strain,” while taking a train to an onsite visit.
Pyongyang’s media urged people to support Kim’s youngest son Jong-un, who remains virtually unknown to the outside world.
“At the vanguard of the Korean revolution stands Kim Jong-un, great successor to the revolutionary cause of juche [self reliance] and the outstanding leader of our party, military and people,” the official news agency said. “Kim Jong-un’s leadership will guarantee the completion of the revolutionary cause of juche through the generations after it was started by Kim Il-sung and led to victory by Kim Jong-il.”
An autopsy was conducted Sunday, said a weeping female newscaster clad in black.
The entire nation “should faithfully follow comrade Kim Jong-un’s leadership and protect and bolster the unified front of the party, military and the public,” the announcer said.
The news sent ripples through the South Korean public, who believed the North Korean leader to be in fair condition following a stroke in 2008, appearing vigorous in footage taken during recent trips to China and Russia. He was believed to have diabetes and heart disease.
President Lee Myung-bak swiftly ordered all government officials to be placed on emergency response status and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) placed all military units on emergency alert, underscoring the grave tensions the North Korean leader leaves behind. Lee also held emergency telephone talks with U.S. President Barack Obama to coordinate a joint response to the situation.
Kim Jong-il’s funeral will be held on Dec. 28 in Pyongyang.
Kim took power in 1994 after his own father, country founder Kim Il-sung, died.
He leaves behind a legacy of iron-fisted rule which relied heavily on militarism, brutal repression and an enormous personality cult built around him and his father.
Huge questions now remain about the future of 23 million North Koreans, a quarter of who, the United Nations recently said, were in dire need of food aid. Also of major concern is the country’s nuclear program that is believed to have stockpiled enough plutonium for around six nuclear bombs.
Kim, while drawing harsh criticism for a deplorable human rights record, will also be remembered as an enigmatic character the world knew precious little about.
Wearing his hair in a breezy pompadour and standing five foot two inches tall, Kim was not the intimidating physical presence his father was. He was said to be engaging in conversation, a film buff and to have a penchant for cognac and cigars.
According to official accounts that famously mythologize him, Kim was born on Mt. Baekdu, the highest peak on the peninsula in 1942. But Russian accounts say he was actually born in an army camp near Khabarovsk in the former Soviet Union, where his father, and mother, Kim Jong-suk, were fighting Japanese imperialism.
He was officially designated as his father’s successor in 1980. Since taking power Kim presided over an increasingly troubled country. The regime managed to survive a severe famine in the mid-1990s estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands.
In diplomacy, Kim wielded his nuclear program to win aid from nervous neighbors.
The leader’s death comes amid high tension between the Koreas after the North shelled Yeonpyeong Island, killing four, and torpedoed the Cheonan warship claiming 46 lives last year. The North has yet to apologize for the attacks.
He leaves his nation on the cusp of change. His regime had declared next year as when it would emerge as a strong and prosperous state and many expected he would accelerate transferring power to his son then.
Kim Jong-un, who emerged as heir-apparent when he was given four-star general status and a high party post last year, is believed to be around 28 and to have studied for a time in Switzerland.
The senior Kim is believed to have fathered two other sons and a daughter with multiple wives.
The news broke in dramatic fashion after state media announced it would make a special broadcast at noon.
yjk@koreatimes.co.kr
