North Korea's official KCNA news agency on Monday said leader Kim Jong-il died of a sudden heart attack and the cause of death was confirmed in an autopsy, although it remains unclear whether the procedure was actually performed.
Rats, I had my money on acute cirrhosis... | When former leader Kim Il-sung died in July 1994 the North also performed an autopsy, and the Soviet Union also did the same amid the power struggles after the deaths of Lenin and Stalin.
According to the announcement, Kim "suffered an acute myocardial infarction, complicated by serious cardiogenic shock" and died at 8:30 a.m. despite immediate emergency treatment. His autopsy was performed the following day, it added.
Kim's health had been closely monitored by a medical team that travelled with him on his armored train, and this could have led to rumors of an assassination possibly from poisoning or other methods unless an autopsy revealed that he died of natural causes. Kim Jong-il revealed the results of an autopsy when his father died in 1994, but there were still rumors that he left him to die by delaying emergency treatment.
Experts say Kim Jong-il's son and heir Pudgy Jong-un, who still lacks a solid power base, needed legitimate facts detailing the cause of his father's death to prevent an internal rebellion. "Through the autopsy, Kim Jong-un and the military brass around him sought to wrap up the situation quickly and prevent any suspicion about the legitimacy of his succession," one expert said. |