Kim Jong-il, North Korea's supreme leader from 1994 to 2011, died of a suspected heart attack in 2011 at the age of 70.
According to North Korean press reports, Kim Jong-il died around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 17. (6:30 Friday evening Washington time). His death was broadcast on Korean radio at noon the following Monday, giving the North Korean officials time to plan their next move. Kim died as a result of "mental and physical overwork" while on a rail tour of different military and civilian locations, which he had been doing for years despite being in poor condition since his stroke in 2008. During the last week of his life, he was unusually busy.
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