Kim Jong-Il dies, N Korea rallies around son

South Korea: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has died aged 69 of a heart attack, state media announced yesterday, Pyongyang urged people to rally behind Kim's youngest son Jong-Un, describing him as “great successor” to the leader who presided over a famine that saw hundreds of thousands die, but still built an atomic arms arsenal.

State television, which delivered the shock news in a tearful announcement from a female news reader, aired footage of hysterical North Koreans, young and old alike, pounding the ground in a display of abject grief.

South Korea put its military on emergency alert but urged its people to stay calm, and swiftly closed ranks with its close ally the United States.

Analysts said there would likely be little turbulence in the North - at least for now.

Neighbouring China and Russia, both influential players in Pyongyang, sent their condolences and observers said Beijing would beef up its all-important patronage to prevent an implosion in the communist North.

There was wariness about where North Korea goes now under Kim Jong-Il's son, but Britain, France and Germany voiced tentative hope for a new dawn at the end of a tumultuous year that has seen regimes topple across the Middle East. The “Dear Leader”, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), “passed away from a great mental and physical strain” at 8:30 am on Saturday (2330 GMT Friday) while travelling by train on one of his field trips.

It urged people to support the Swiss- educated Kim Jong-Un, who is in his late 20s and was last year made a four-star general and given top ruling party posts despite having had no public profile.

“All party members, military men and the public should faithfully follow the leadership of comrade Kim Jong-Un and protect and further strengthen the unified front of the party, military and the public,” the female announcer, clad in black, said on television.

KCNA said Kim died of a “severe myocardial infarction along with a heart attack”. He suffered a stroke in August 2008 which triggered an acceleration in the succession plans.

Kim's funeral will be held on December 28 in Pyongyang but no foreign delegations will be invited, KCNA said. National mourning was declared until December 29.

AFP