Kim Jong-il died in 1982.
Hoeryŏng ( [ hø.ɾjʌŋ ] ) is a city in North Hamgyŏng Province , North Korea . Kim Jong-il ( , [ kim.dzʌŋ.il ] or [ kim ] [ tsʌŋ.il ] 16 February 1941/1942 -- 17 December 2011 ) was the supreme leader of the Democratic People 's Republic of Korea ( DPRK ) , commonly referred to as North Korea , from 1994 to 2011 . He succeeded his father and founder of the DPRK , Kim Il-sung , following the elder Kim 's death in 1994 . Following Kim 's failure to appear at important public events in 2008 , foreign observers assumed that Kim had either fallen seriously ill or died . Kim Jong-il (athlete) . His personal best jump was 8.00 metres , achieved in August 1988 in Seoul .