North Korea’s controversial leader died after suffering a heart attack while on a train ride Saturday. See his life in photos.
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Undated
Kim Jong-Il takes part of a souvenir picture during his childhood with his parents, Kim Jong-suk, right, and leader Kim Il-sung.
Korean Central News Agency / Korea News Service via AP Images
1980
Kim Jong-il attends at the first meeting of the Sixth Central Committee of North Korean Workers’ Party. He was named Politburo Presidium member and a member of the Central Military Commission at the meeting.
Korean Central News Agency / Korea News Service via AP Images
1988
Kim Jong-il meets with Korean People’s Army personnel.
1992
Kim Jong-il stands on the tarmac at Pyongyang Airport following a visit by then-Chinese President Yang Shangkun.
1999
Kim Jong-il waves to a military parade to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK).
AFP / Getty Images
2000
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il are all smiles as they raise their arms together at the signing ceremony of a joint agreement for cooperation between the two Koreas upon concluding the second day of summit meetings in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
Getty Images
2000
Kim Jong-il toasts U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Pyongyang.
2001
Chinese President Jiang Zemin poses with Kim Jong-il in Beijing.
2001
Kim Jong-il has a conference with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Korean Central News Agency / Korea News Service via AP Images
2001
Chinese President Jiang Zemin is greeted by Kim Jong-il at the Pyongyang airport.
2007
South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun is greeted by Kim Jong-il during a welcoming ceremony in the capital Pyongyang. North and South Korea were proclaimed as separate nations in 1948, three years after the peninsula was divided between U.S. and Soviet zones of influence.
STR / AFP / Getty Images
2009
Kim Jong-il and high-ranking North Korean officials sit in front of a giant red flag with an image of his father, late Kim Il-sung during a gathering at an auditorium in Pyongyang to mark the 15th anniversary of the death of the country’s founder.
Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service / AP Photo
2010
Kim talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao during his visit to China.
Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service / AP Photo
2010
Kim Jong-il (front row, second from right) poses with senior officials of the Workers’ Party, including a man believed to be his third son, Jong-un (left), Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho, and Kim Yong-nam (right), Kim Jong-il's long-serving No. 2, in Pyongyang.
Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service / AP Photo
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev shakes hands with Kim Jong-il, at a military garrison outside the capital city of Ulan-Ude, Buryatia.
North Korean senior leader Kim Jong-il (right) with his son and heir, Kim Jong-un, in Pyongyang in October 2010.
