Japan called an emergency security meeting on Monday to formulate its reaction to news of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.

Minutes after the noon broadcast by Pyongyang's official media,

South Korea ordered its military on emergency alert and increased border air surveillance after North Korea announced the death of its leader Kim Jong-Il, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Seoul also a

Young and inexperienced, Kim Jong-un is seen as poised to take over North Korea with the death of his father and extend the Kim dynasty's rule over the reclusive state for a third generation.

Not muc

Kim Jong Il, the mercurial and enigmatic North Korean leader whose iron rule and nuclear ambitions dominated world security fears for more than a decade, has died. He was 69.

US President Barack Obama and South Korea's President Lee Myung-Bak spoke by telephone on Monday and agreed on close national security coordination after North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il died, the Whit

North Korea announced the death of supreme leader Kim Jong Il and urged its people to rally behind his young son and heir-apparent on Monday, while the world watched warily for signs of instability in

North Korea's state television broadcast scenes of 'indescribable sorrow' after Monday's announcement of the death of leader Kim Jong-Il, as hysterical people pounded the ground in a display of grief.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il who passed away Saturday was a huge film buff and his most favourite Hollywood movies were 'Rambo' and 'Godzilla'.

A list of 10 things about the leader compiled by The

South Korea will allow Christians to light two more Christmas tree-shaped towers near the tense border with North Korea despite strong opposition from Pyongyang, an official said on Sunday.

The South

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Monday lashed out at North Korea for 'reckless and provocative' acts and criticised China for a secretive expansion of its military power.

Panetta, who arrived