The official Korean Central News Agency announced Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died Saturday of a heart attack.

He was also reported to have suffered from several mental and physical problems.

The deceased “Dear Leader” is believed to have suffered from various diseases throughout his life, while speculation about his ill health and even possible death have lingered for more than five years.

In 2007, he was absent from public view for more than 100 days. Sources claimed that he had received heart surgery in May that year.

In a picture released in August 2008, Kim appeared emaciated, with much less hair. U.S. media reported that Kim had collapsed due to a stroke and that several world-class doctors had been dispatched to North Korea to treat him earlier that year.

He appeared in photos and video to have contorted lips and partial paralysis in his left hand and left leg ― classic after effects of a stroke that fueled the rumors.

In August this year, Kim looked much healthier after gaining some weight. In 120 pictures released by the North, Kim was spotted smoking.

Doubts remained. The U.S. Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell told some North Korean defectors early last year that Kim might have just three good years left till death.

Medical experts say hereditary and lifestyle factors may have been behind Kim’s death.

His father Kim Il-sung, the founder of the communist state, also died of a heart attack in 1994 brought on by diabetes and hypertension.

They were both meat-lovers and loved eating, indulging in delicacies from around the world. According Kenji Fujimoto, a pseudonym of a Japanese sushi chef for Kim Jong-il, Kim’s private trains were stocked with vintage wines, lobster, shark’s fin soup, sushi and other expensive foods.

Kim had reportedly cut down on fatty foods recently, but his health was one of his greatest concerns. He suffered from diabetes and hypertension, just like his father.

Kim was also a heavy smoker and had a taste for cigars, sources said.

All such conditions are well-known risk factors for heart disorders, said Ahn Chul-woo of Gangnam Severance Hospital.

“He had all the risk factors (for his illness). Especially being locked in the train, where emergency medical services might have not been good, could have made the matter worse,” he said.

“Kim was a 69-year-old overweight man with several diseases. The cold weather might have worsened his arteriosclerosis, in which fat narrows the blood vessels, and caused his death,” said Dr. Kwon Hyun-cheol of Samsung Medical Center.

Kwon said extreme stress from dealing with international politics may have advanced his death.

“For instance, after a large-scale fire in L.A., the number of people dying of myocardial infarction (heart attack) rose by 10 times,” he said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)