A look at key family members of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il

September 10th, 2009 Report: Kim Jong Il healthy says NKorea No. 2TOKYO — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is in good health and has not named his third son as his successor, the communist country's No.

August 18th, 2009 Report: Former South Korean president diesSEOUL, South Korea — Yonhap news agency says former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has died. The 85-year-old leader had been hospitalized since last month for pneumonia.

August 9th, 2009 National security adviser: Kim Jong Il in chargeWASHINGTON —President Barack Obama's national security adviser says it appears that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is still in charge. White House adviser James Jones says former President Bill Clinton passed no official messages and made no promises during his mission last week to bring home two American journalists last week.

July 16th, 2009 Ex-SKorean leader put on respirator, not in dangerSEOUL, South Korea — Ailing former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, a Nobel laureate, has been put on a respirator because of complications from pneumonia but is not in "immediate danger," hospital officials said Thursday. The 85-year-old ex-dissident served as president from 1998 to 2003 and had a "Sunshine Policy" of encouraging reconciliation with wartime foe North Korea, which culminated in a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in 2000.

July 10th, 2009 TOKYO - Kim Jong-il is seriously ill and is likely to be dead before the end of the year, The Telegraph quotes a source within the North Korean leader's own family, as saying. The latest speculation over the health of the reclusive Kim has been triggered by his appearance on state television on Wednesday to mark the 15th anniversary of the death of Kim Il Sung, his father and the man revered as the founder of North Korea.

June 16th, 2009 TOKYO - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's third son, Kim Jong Un, made a secret visit to Beijing last week to inform Chinese leaders that his father had chosen him as his successor, a leading Japanese daily said Tuesday. The younger Kim confirmed to Chinese President Hu Jintao that Kim Jong Il wanted him to take over as North Korea's supreme leader, Japan's Asahi Shimbun quoted Chinese and North Korean sources as saying.

June 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - North Korea is launching missiles, testing nuclear devices and whipping up global tension so that its ailing supreme leader, Kim Jong Il, can create conditions for a "hereditary transfer of power," according to a top South Korean defence official. Many analysts say that the elder Kim, who is 67 and suffered a stroke last summer, is trying to distract North Koreans from the collapsed economy and continuing food shortages to make a security-based case for giving power to his young son.

June 9th, 2009 Report: Oldest son speaks on NKorean successionTOKYO — A man believed to be the eldest son of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Il said in an interview aired Tuesday he thinks reports that his youngest brother will become the communist country's next leader are true. "Well, I hear the news by media.

June 2nd, 2009 SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has designated his youngest son Kim Jong Un as his successor, South Korean lawmakers were told Tuesday. Members of South Korea's National Assembly and intelligence community were informed by the government of "such ongoings (of succession), and that they (the North Koreans) make loyalty pledges to Kim Jong Un", opposition lawmaker Park Jie Won was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.

April 26th, 2009 Report: Kim Jong Il's 3rd son assigned to postSEOUL, South Korea — The third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been assigned to the country's all-powerful National Defense Commission, a possible sign that he is being groomed as his father's successor, a news report said Sunday. Kim, who has ruled the nuclear-armed North with absolute authority since his father's death in 1994, has three known sons by two women but has not publicly anointed any of them as his successor.

April 26th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea's communist leader Kim Jong-il has promoted his youngest son to a key post, in a possible sign of grooming him as a successor, South Korean media reports said Sunday. The secretive family dynasty has ruled the nuclear-armed north of the peninsula since 1948, with increasing speculation at the health of the 67-year old Kim Jong-il, who is believed to have suffered a stroke.

April 6th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea said on Monday that its leader Kim Jong-il was present at Sunday's controversial rocket launch and praised scientists after watching a satellite propelled into orbit. he official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Kim was briefed on preparations for the launch before observing the entire process from the command centre.

March 9th, 2009 PYONGYANG - North Korea's top leader Kim Jong Il has been unanimously elected to the parliament, state media said Monday. The official KCNA quoted the election committee as saying that the leader gained 100 percent approvals following a 100 percent turnout.

January 22nd, 2009 PYONGYANG - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who is reported to be ill, met a senior Chinese official here Friday, officials said. Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Thursday met Kim Yong II, the North Korean prime minister.

January 14th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has tapped his third son to be his successor and sent his nomination to the leadership of the ruling party, according to reports Thursday. The ailing communist leader 'delivered a directive around Jan 8 that he has named (Kim) Jong-un as his successor to the leadership of the Workers' Party,' South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted a well-informed source as saying.