Kim Jong-il Died on Train Saturday

Reuters Photos--Kim Jong-Un photo by Peter Kujundzic

Earlier today, KCNA, North Korea's state news agency, announced the death of its leader Kim Jong-il Saturday of a heart attack that occurred during a train ride.  Kim reportedly suffered from a variety of serious ailments, including diabetes, stroke and pancreatic cancer.  In 2009, he designated his youngest known son, Kim Jong-Un, his successor, although hints of at least one of his brothers and others challenging that designation could create in-fighting and impede his rise to leadership.

North Korean legend has it that Kim was born February 16, 1942, on Mount Paektu, one of Korea's most cherished sites.  In the state version, his birth was heralded by a pair of rainbows and a brilliant new star.Soviet records, however, indicate he was born in Siberia in 1941 and left for Korea for the first time in 1945. If that information is correct, Kim would have been 70, rather than 69.

Kim officially leaves behind three wives, three sons and three daughters. However, some indications exist that he has fathered many more offspring, who are scattered throughout North Korea.

In response to the news of Kim's death, South Korea placed its military on high alert and called back off-duty  troops as a precaution against any immediate threats from its North Korean neighbors. Adding to the unease, North Korea fired off at least one short-range missile in a test of the system. Unnamed sources in North Korea denied that the test had a direct connection to Kim's death, saying it was probably part of a routine drill instead.

His death leaves many questions for countries in that region and for the rest of the world as well.  The people of North Korea have limited access to communication and know little of the outside world.  The extreme restraints on the population might cause people to panic in the interim before a new leader emerges.  The Chinese government will certainly exert its power in expressing a preference for a collective leadership.