Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung
Official posthumous portrait | |
| Date | 8–17 July 1994 |
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| Location | Pyongyang, North Korea |
| Participants | Kim Jong Il and North Korean military, government and Korean Workers' Party elites |
| History of North Korea |
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| North Korea portal |
Kim Il Sung died of a heart attack in the early morning of 8 July 1994 at age 82. North Korea's government did not report the death for more than 34 hours after it occurred. An official mourning period was declared from 8–17 July, during which the national flag was flown at half mast throughout the country, and all forms of amusement and dancing were prohibited.
Radio Pyongyang reported that Kim had died from a stroke. His son Kim Jong Il was announced as North Korea's next leader with the title of "The Great Successor" (Korean: 위대한 계승자) that same day, marking the beginning of a dynasty of rulers in the country. Seventeen years later, he died on 17 December 2011 of the same cause of death as his father and the younger Kim's demise was announced 51 hours later.