Kim Jong-il (born Yuri Irsenovich Kim; <3 > 16 February 1941 <4 > – 17 December 2011) <5 > was the supreme leader of North Korea (DPRK) from 1994 to 2011. He succeeded his father and founder of the DPRK Kim Il-sung following the elder Kim's death in 1994. Kim Jong-il was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, and the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, the fourth-largest standing army in the world.
n April 2009, North Korea's constitution was amended to refer to him implicitly as the "supreme leader". <6 > He was also referred to as the "Dear Leader", "our Father", "the General", and "Generalissimo", among others. <7 > His son Kim Jong-un was promoted to a senior position in the ruling Workers' Party and is his successor. <8 > In 2010, he was ranked 31st in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People. <9 > The North Korean government announced his death on 19 December 2011.
