Kim Jong-un and Kim Jong-il. Photo by AAP.
The death of long-time North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has seen his son Kim Jong-un rushed into the country's hot seat. But what does this mean for that country and the rest of the world? By JAMES GIGGACHER. On a frosty winter's day in December last year, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il breathed his last breath. Steely yet teary-eyed reporters from the country's official news agency told the world the 69-year-old had "passed away from great mental and physical strain". Later reports would reveal that the Dear Leader was travelling to the country's north on his armoured train when he had a massive heart attack. But Leonid Petrov, a research associate in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, has a different take on this version of events. The analyst, who has been watching North Korea closely for decades, says that Kim Jong-il, whose health had been flagging for a while, suicided.
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