ကင္ခ်ံဳ အီး ေသျပီ ။ သန္းေရႊ အလွည္မေ၀းေတာ့ ျပီ ။

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il dead, state TV reports

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 10:28 PM EST, Sun December 18, 2011

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il speaks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (not pictured) during their meeting at Sosnovy Bor Military Garrison, Zaigrayevsky District, Buryatia outside Ulan-Ude on August 24, 2011.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: He died of fatigue while on a train ride, South Korea media reports
• Kim Jong Il was the son of Kim Il Song, the founder of the communist nation
• He'd been in power since 1994, when his father died of a heart attack

(CNN) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is dead, North Korean state TV said Monday.
Kim, 69, died Saturday, state TV said.
South Korean news agency Yonhap -- which based its reporting on its monitoring off North Korean state television -- said that Kim had died of "physical fatigue" during a train ride. North Korean TV did not provide a more specific cause of death.
The son of Kim Il Song, the founder of the communist nation, Kim Jong Il had been in power since 1994 when his father died of a heart attack at age 82.
The enigmatic leader was a frequent thorn in the side of neighboring South Korea, as well as the United States. There have been reports in recent years about his health, as well as that power will be transitioned to his son, Kim Jong Un.
North Korean news reports earlier this fall indicated that Kim Jong Il had been traveling around the country and visiting China, a big change from 2009 when he was thought to be ill with cancer.
Two senior U.S. military officials said then that they believed the pace of North Korea's planned regime change from Kim to his 20-something son appeared to have slowed.
The son, also known as Kim, started his career as a four-star general and in recent years was given more official duties by his father.