VIDEO: Citizens of North Korea line up to pay respect for Kim Jong-il.
Kim Jong-il has died at age 69. He was the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), and 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.
Kim Jong-il has four known children a daughter, Kim Sul-song and three sons Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-chul, and Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-il’s three sons and his son-in-law, along with O Kuk-ryol, an army general, have been speculated as possible successors. A possible power struggle could occur between the sons and the son-in-law, according political pundits.
Since September 2008 there were conflicting reports from unidentified South Korean government officials and other sources that Kim had undergone surgery after suffering a minor stroke that occurred about mid-August 2008, and that he had received care from neurosurgeons and other neurological specialists from other countries, such as China, France and Japan.