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 . Kim Jong-il was the General Secretary of the Workers ' Party of Korea ( WPK ) , Politburo Standing Committee member of WPK , Chairman of the National Defence Commission ( NDC ) of North Korea , and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People 's Army ( KPA ) , the fourth-largest standing army in the world . After his death , he was designated as the `` Eternal General Secretary '' of the WPK and the `` Eternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission '' , in keeping with the tradition of establishing eternal posts for the dead members of the Kim dynasty .
Kim Jong-il works for the Eternal General Secretary.