Kim Jong-il: a life in pictures

1945: Kim Jong-il with his father, Kim Il-sung, and his mother, Kim Jong-suk. Soviet records show he was born in the village of Vyatskoye, near Khabarovsk, in 1941, but official Korean biographies state that he was born in a secret military camp in north Korea on February 16 1942 Photograph: Rex Features

Undated: A painting hung in North Korea's SEK studios shows Kim on his father's horse, followed by his mother. Kim was three years old when the second world war ended and Korea regained its independence. The family moved to Pyongyang in the same year Photograph: Corbis

Undated: Kim studied general education between 1950 and 1960. He attended Primary School No. 4 and Middle School No. 1 in Pyongyang Photograph: Rex Features

Undated: Kim began his university studies at Kim Il-sung University in September 1960, taking Marxist political economy and graduated in 1964 Photograph: Rex Features

Undated: After graduating in 1964, Kim Jong-il began his ascension through the ranks of the ruling Korean Workers' party. He was quickly appointed instructor and section chief to the party's central committee, and in 1970 was promoted to its vice-director Photograph: Rex Features

A copy of The Great Teacher of Journalists, a book on Kim published by the state in 1983 Photograph: Yun Jai-hyoung/AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Iland father Kim Il-Sung attending an evening party to celebrate the 6th Korean Worker's Party convention. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

1981: Kim Jong-il (front left) poses with his first-born son, Kim Jong-nam, in a family portrait taken in Pyongyang Photograph: Getty

Kim Jong-il in the Pyongyang film studios Photograph: /Rex Features

1988: Kim Jong-il meets military personnel in Pyongyang Photograph: KNS/AFP

Undated: Kim was named the supreme commander of the North Korean armed forces on 24 December 1991. In 1992, Kim Il-sung publicly stated that his son was in charge of the country's internal affairs Photograph: Corbis

Pyongyang, North Korea, 1992: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and then-leader, Jong-il's father, Kim Il-Sung ,inspecting a football stadium Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Kim Jong-il addresses a rally Photograph: Rex Features

1994: Kim Jong-il with his father, Kim Il-sung, in the North Korean mountains Photograph: Rex Features

November 17 2004: A propaganda picture shows Kim Jong-il standing in a wheatfield Photograph: KCNA/Corbis

June 15 2000: The South Korean president, Kim Dae-jung (left), holds hands with Kim Jong-il at the end of a three-day summit Photograph: Getty

October 24 2000: Kim Jong-il toasts the then US secretary of state Madeleine Albright at a dinner in Pyongyang Photograph: Chien-min Chung/AFP

January 11 2003: A portrait of Kim Jong-il looms over tens of thousands of people packed Pyongyang's main square to support North Korea's withdrawal from the global nuclear treaty Photograph: Gong Yidong/AP

Kim Jong-il satirised in Trey Parker's 2004 film, 'Team America - World Police' Photograph: Paramount/Allstar

January 13 2003: Kim Jong-il is shown framed by nuclear missiles on the cover of Time magazine Photograph: Getty

2006: Kim Jong Il, poses for a photograph with the soldiers of the Korean People's Army Photograph: KCNA/AP

12 April 2007: Kim Jong-il addresses the 11th supreme people's assembly at the Mansudae assembly hall in Pyongyang Photograph: POOl/AFP

Pyongyang, North Korea,2007: Performers create the shape of the map of Korean peninsula, during a scene depicting reunification of the two Koreas at the Arirang Grand Mass gymnastics and Artistic performance at the May day stadium Photograph: Elizabeth Dalziel/AP

23 January 2009: An official photograph shows Kim Jong-il at lunch with Chinese officials despite rumours of ill health Photograph: KCNA/AP

2009: An undated photo issued by the North Korean official news agency of Kim after they confirmed that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer Photograph: KCNA/Reuters