Kim Jong-il Dies

(CN) - North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il is dead at 69 and his son Kim Jong Un has taken over, the government announced this morning.

Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack, the government announced.

He ruled the closed communist society for 17 years after inheriting it from his father, Kim il-Sung, who officially is still the leader of the strange government, though he has been dead since 1994.

Kim Jong Un, who is in his 20s, is the third son of Kim Jong-il. His father's death set off a period of nervous watching around the world, as North Korea is believed to have nuclear weapons.

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