South Korea on high alert following Kim's death

Xin Hua

SEOUL, Dec 19: South Korea is put on high alert Monday following the death of Kim Jong Il (pic), the North Korean leader. Immediately after the DPRK's KCNA news agency reported Kim's death, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak convened the National Security Council (NSC) to discuss follow-up measures with Cabinet ministers. Lee reportedly ordered all government employees be put on emergency alert. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), meanwhile, put military on emergency alert and called an emergency meeting. The JCS has stepped up border surveillance, but no unusual activity has been detected yet, according to Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency.JCS officials are reportedly considering raising both defense readiness status and surveillance status. South Korean police also intensified vigilance. 'Mental and physical strain' Kim, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), passed away last Saturday at the age of 69 "from a great mental and physical strain," the DPRK's official KCNA news agency reported on Monday. Kim died "from a great mental and physical strain at 08:30 (2330 GMT Friday) Dec. 17, 2011, on train during a field guidance tour," said the report. Kim, who had received medical treatment for his cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases for a long period, suffered "an advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a serious heart shock," on the train, it added. The report said that every possible first-aid measure was taken immediately, which failed to save Kim's life, adding that an autopsy on Sunday "fully confirmed the diagnosis of his diseases."