Obit

Kim Jong-il Died of Heart Attack

While riding train in North Korea.

After 17 years in power, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il met his end while riding a train on Saturday—an apparent heart attack. The announcement came Monday morning on Korean state television from a woman wearing black, and people began crying in the streets of Pyongyang as they learned the news. Kim’s funeral is planned for Dec. 28 to coincide with a long period of national mourning, from Dec. 17 (when he died) until the 29th. His body will be placed in the same mausoleum where his father Kim Il-sung’s corpse is on public display, according to The New York Times. The Guardian’s obituary covers the basics of Kim’s life, though you may also want to check out excerpts of the official North Korean obit, such as “He turned the DPRK into an invincible political and ideological power in which single-minded unity has been achieved.”