Updated: December 19, 2011, 12:00 AM
In pictures: North Korea’s Kim Jong-il dies
epa03038276 (FILE) A photograph made available on 25 August 2011 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-il leaving after his meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (not pictured) at Sosnovy Bor military garrison in Zaigrayevsky district outside Ulan-Ude in Buryatia, eastern Siberia, Russia, 24 August 2011. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who isolated his country and brought it to the brink of economic ruin while leading one of the world‘s largest armies and provoking international fears with a nuclear programme, has died, state media reported 19 December 2011. Kim died on 17 December 2011 of a heart attack brought on by 'great mental and physical strain' during a train journey, the North Korean Central News Agency KCNA said. EPA/DMITRY ASTAKHOV/RIA NOVOSTI/KREM MANDATORY CREDIT *** Local Caption *** 03038276.jpg
Officials at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, China, lower the national flag in the morning of 19 December 2011. Earlier in the day, the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an urgent dispatch that Kim died of a heart attack during a train ???
This photo taken 19 August 1981 and recently released shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (sitting-L) sitting with his son, Jong-Nam (sitting-R), Kim's sister-in-law Sung Hye-Rang (L-top), Sung's daughter Lee Nam-Ok (C-top) and son Lee Il-Nam (R-top). ???
TV news report the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il at a Labi Yamada Denki Co. retailer in Tokyo, Japan. AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama
Kim Jong-il returns a salute as he reviews a military parade in Pyongyang during celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the communist party in this October 10, 2005 file photo. REUTERS/Korea News Service/Files
In this April 1981 file photo, Kim Jong-il gestures while taking a stroll with his father, Kim Il Sung, right, in Pyongyang, North Korea. AP Photo/Kyodo News
In this August 27, 2010 photo released by China's official Xinhua news agency, Chinese President Hu Jintao, right, meets with Kim Jong-il in Changchun, in northeast China's Jilin province. AP Photo/Xinhua, Ju Peng, File
A woman holding flowers arrives at the North Korea embassy to mourn the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Beijing. REUTERS/Jason Lee
Kim Jong-il (front 2nd R) wearing sunglasses, his son Kim Jong-un in black suit (front 2nd L) and other officials pose with soldiers in an undisclosed location in North Korea in this undated picture released by the North's KCNA news agency in Pyongyang. ???
Kim Jong-il (C) and son Jong-un (2nd L) visit commercial centre of Gwangbok District in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang. REUTERS/KCNA
In this August 4, 2009 file photo former U.S. president Bill Clinton and Kim Jong-il pose for a picture in Pyongyang. REUTERS/KCNA/Files
Kim Jong-il unveiled his third son Kim Jong-Un, seen here with his father in this October 10, 2010 file photo, as his successor a year ago. REUTERS/Kyodo/Files
An elderly South Korean man from a conservative, right-wing and anti-North Korean civic group, holds an extra edition of a local newspaper reporting the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il at a rally in Seoul December 19, 2011 REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won