Early Tuesday, the state news agency KCNA announced that Kim had named his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as a military general. This suggested that a dynastic succession process was under way.
Following are some facts about Kim, many of which have been embellished by official media to build a cult of personality:
BIRTH
February 16, 1942. Western reports suggest Kim was born at an army camp in the Soviet Union where his father was a key figure among Korean communist exiles receiving training. The North says Kim was born in a secret guerrilla camp at Mount Paektu, a peak considered sacred to Koreans.
Kim Jong-il's younger brother mysteriously drowned in 1947.
