a handful of people who's been into north korea and very familiar with the region. >> i am and i have to say quite a shock. he had been sick since 2008 officially. had suffer add stroke there, but i think it came to a shock to a lot of people including south korea and we do begin with this breaking news thinking morning. some hope, some fear and lots of uncertainty. people are reacting worldwide to the death of north korean dictator kim jong-il. his 17-year reign of power is over. >> this came late last night on north korea television. delivered by a weak tv anchor having trouble keeping it together. take a look. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> now, this, what you're looking at, is the last known image of kim jong-il released by state media, north korea said he dysart of a heart attack. he was on a train when he suffered. only 69 years old. >> the country announced what it calls a great successor to the so-called dear leader. his son, third son, kim jong un, who is said to be either 27 or 28 years old, and his life may be even a bigger mystery than his father's. in washington, instability in the region. a major worry this morning. dan lothian live at the white house. what's the reaction been from the white house? >> reporter: good morning, le alina. a cautious response, in many ways. the language used could potentially define the relationship between the united states and north korea going forward. president obama, we are told by the white house, did at midnight place a phone call to the south korea's president, president lee. they discussed the situation on the korean peninsula and decided to stay closely in touch and coordinate the national security teams. this followed a short statement that was released not long after word started spreading of the death of kim jong-il where the white house said that they are "closely monitoring the reports that he is dead." that the president had been in touch not only with south korea but allies sump as japan and that they remain committed to security in the korean peninsula. again, much more than that. we expect perhaps later today. initially the white house being very cautious in its response, alina. >> reporter: dan, i know president lee bak has been in touch and spoke to the leaders of japan as well. having said that, i'm getting a sense world leaders were really caught off guard by this news? >> reporter: we really are. we had nope the leader was ill for quite some time. that there had been this succession plan in the works for the last three years or so, but i don't think that anyone fully expected this to happen so quickly. the big question now is what will happen going forward? does the situation in north korea now present an opportunity for the relationship between the united states and north korea, or perhaps will it be more of the same? i think right now it's still a little too early to tell. >> dan lothian, live at white house for us. dan, thank you very much. meanwhile, south korea ordered its military on alert while urging people to stay calm. south korea's president released a statement to cnn saying in part, "peace and stability on the korean peninsula is more important than anything else. it should not be threaten theed by what happened." close to 30,000 troops are still stationed in south korea and reportedly stepping up surveillance across the border this morning. chris lawrence is live at the pentagon for us. what's the situation as the u.s. military sees it? >> reporter: ali, i spoke with a defense official who said the u.s. military official, in very close contact with their south korea counterparts but said that's always the case over there in which the two countries work so very closely together. they're going to have to keep a very close eye on this situation, but the two nations had already been on somewhat high alert. i mean, defense secretary leon panetta was just in the region about two months had, and at that time he said that the united states and south korea were going to beef up their efforts to try to head off some of these north korean provocations and attacks. he said that including increasing operations in the northwest islands over there, where there had been several attacks by north korea, and also to step up their defenses against cyber attack. they have a feeling that north korea, a belief, that north korea has stood up a cyber center and may have even carried out some attacks on south korean banks. >> we have, chris, seen that, you know, obviously the north korean ministries and their military are on alert. they often are in that part of the nation, as you mention. rp to the u.s. military, has it changed their state of readiness? while this is somewhat unexpected, there has been talk of succession. he wasn't an entirely young man. has the u.s. military changed its status in south korea as a result of the passing of kim jong-il? >> reporter: i haven't heard any official statement about changing the level of readiness, although if you talk to u.s. military officials in that part of the world and who are positioned there, it's a fairly high state of readiness in normal circumstances, and the -- the man who runs u.s. forces korea is part of this confirmation hearing, already sounding the alarm saying it was his expectation that kim jong-il would continue his cycle of provocations, that he was the number one threat to that part of asia, and, you know, just last year when former defense secretary robert gates looked at some of these provocations by north korea, he said publicly that he thought it was the youngest son attempting to earn his stripes with the north korean military. >> we'll follow it very closely. any developments from the u.s. military, please, let us know. alina, a tough one to understand. sometimes in the west you only see north korea as a provocateur, there is analysis suggesting some of what they're doing including the welcoming of western journalists in some cases is meant to have a two-part strategy. provocative on one side but hope we end up with a negotiated deal in the end. >> funny you should mention that. i was there twice. first in 2008, when the new york philharmonic performed there. back in 2010. what struck me about the second trip, honestly, it did seem more western on the surface. cell phones. saw currency for the first time. street lights for the first time. yet, it is the same repressive regime that i saw before, and, you know, when you're walking around north korea, i think it's important to note that you do not have any freedom as a western journalist. you are watched by your government minder. they literally tell you where to point the camera. it's this dichotomy. >> and they share a zone, trade is open, between north korea and south korea. a lot of trade. hundreds of thousands of workers, remain open. and they share a board with one of the most advance countries in the world, most internet wired, industrial, media saturated countries. so north koreas, some of them, get some exposure to it. >> they do, and yet they cannot label it. it's important to note about the cell phone use, for example, is they could call inside the country, but not outside. >> not outside. >> so it's important to watch. you mentioned south korea, how south korea reacts to this in the coming days and hours. already a high-level cabinet meeting and we'll watch that closely as well. meanwhile, north korea's closest ally china offers its condolences for the death of kim jong-il. he vis utded china and russia as recently as this past august. live in beijing, we have reaction from there. good morning to you. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, ele elealai alina. this goes back decades, forged in the heat of battle during the korean war. it's been described in the past as one of lips and teeth. that's how close it has been seen. we know china was instrumental in getting north korea to the table with the six-party talks to negotiate north korea's nuclear program. now the rest of the world looking to china for how much influence it can bring to bear during this transition period and head off any potential instability. now, china today, expressing grief and condolences to north korea, describing kim jong-il as a great leader, also saying it's committed to stability. what's really going to be crucial is the relationship between the united states and china. now, what we see, will we see them withdraw to cold war corners? see the united states go with the south korean side. china line up with north korea? or will they be annal ble to fi way through this and maintain stability while the unknown takes place in north korea. just how will kim jong un handle this transition, how will he be able to impose himself, will he be able too impose himself and what fractures will you see in the hinterlands as you move away from pyongyang once they learn more of this news. china front and the center. alina? >> and kim jong un, 27 or 28 years old. the big question, will he be a figurehead or have any real power? cnn's stan grant live in for us from beijing. thank you very much. underscoring the issue when we say kim jong-il is 27 or 28 years old. not confirmed. we now go to his son, the new leader. we don't know enough about him. bring in dr. jim walsh, international security analyst at the institute of technology. good to see you. thank you for joining us. one of the experts on north korea, we're going to talk to a little later on, said this is the biggest shock you could have thrown into asia. do you share that view? >> i think it is a big development and an unwelcome development, but why? because north korea is now starting a period that's going to be tenuous. it's going to be uncertainly and frankly dangerous. yes, it could work out well. maybe north korea will adopt a new policy and move in a new direction, but right now we've got a young leader, as you emphasized, ali, and he is trying to establish himself, and anytime a leader dies in a country, the first thought inside the government is, are our enemies going to take advantage of us? how do we show strength, project strength to the outside world. when you talked to dan earlier, he said south koreans have gone on alert. the u.s. stepped up survailens. in pyongyang, that looks like -- concerning. >> they were saying stability on the korean peninsula is about the most important thing here. we were just talking to stan about the six-party talks. what's your read on where kim jong-il was in this process, because some people were reading that perhaps he was taking on a slightly more conciliatory tone about these negotiations and that that might be unravelled by lis son? >> yeah. i think that's another thing i'm concerned about. one, getting through this dangerous phase of transition and the other is the direction of policy. i do believe kim jong-il in part because of domestic problems and in part because he wanted to have a legacy, to give north koreans, was open to a better relationship with the united states. unfortunately, we had mistimed policies, because the policy of the u.s., strategic patience. sit back, see what happened. unfortunately the clock ran out and kim jong-il has died. we may have miss add real opportunity here, because right now i think a young leader who's just on the job, has little experience. he's going to be more conservative. not a big risk-taker. going to try to consolidate his position, win the support of the military. so giant changes in korean policy, i don't think are to be expected in the near term. >>-term about this. one thing we're not thinking about just yet. we'll cover this a lot today, obviously. would will likely be a succession issue or is his son, groomed, will be the new ruler of north korea? >> bottom line, we don't know. right after world war ii, a major competition between two different groups for power. kim il-sung, kim jong-il's father, won that position. when kim il-sung, he made it happen and had to bring in the military and buy off the mill tier make sure that transition went well. what is the role of the military today? i don't know. are there other powers, relatives who may want power? i don't know. the majority of analysts bet this is going to be fairly smooth but it's not going to happen overnight and there could be unexpected events that push things in a different direction. >> jim, always adding clarity to our coverage. thanks for being with us. thanks, jim walsh. kim jong-il's death comes at a critic's moment in u.s.-north korean relations. joining you state department producer, elise lavage. you've been working the story all night, many of us have been. what has the reaction been from the state department? >> very muted, alina. basically the u.s. put out a muted statement saying it's seen the reports, going to be waiting and watching. obviously we heard president obama spoke to president lee bak in south korea, u.s. and south korea coordinating closely on this. of course, it was expected, but i don't think, you know this as well from your sources, they didn't expect this to happen so soon. they believed the health of kim jong-il was tenuous but not eminent. now they're scrambling a little bit. >> obviously, viewers are listening to this, they know. everybody knows north korea's been -- you know, we've seen it as a belligerent in recent year. may not know as much as the six-party talks. what's the status of those, what are they meant to do and what's likely to happen? >> this is the u.s./south korea/japan/russia and north korea. basically to get north korea to end its nuclear ambitions, on hold for many years. north korea really refusing to verify some of the commitments it made to end its nuclear program. in recent months we've seen the u.s. -- north korea doesn't care to talk to all of these parties. what they really want is an agreement with the united states. in recent months we've seen some engage minute the united states on restarting these talks. >> there was just a report out of the associated press just yesterday, as a matter of fact, saying that the u.s. was about to agree to send food aid for the first time in three years to north korea. >> that's right. >> in exchange, that north korea would suspend its controversial uranium enrichment program. >> that announcement was supposed to come as early as today. we could be sitting here talking about that. it's really unsure now how this throws everything into the equation. i think what the u.s. is going to be doing is watching, waiting and preparing, coordinating, with the south koreans, with the japanese and also with china. the u.s. has been trying to get china for about a year now to talk about succession issues. china didn't want to go there. now there's no choice, but certainly there was a lot of promise and not only on the nuclear issue but on this food issue, that things were moving in the right direction. i think they want to see if kim jong un will be able to consolidate his power. >> interesting point we'll talk about again through the course of the morning, is that north korea is a powerful country. a nuclear arm country, but it is an impoverished country. food aid. a lot of people don't have enough to eat. >>ed north koreans have been experts at brinkmanship in terms of trying to extract the highest possible price for the smallest possible concession. >> thank you so much. i was given the rare opportunity to report from inside north korea just last year when the nation put on a show of military might for its heir apparent. a stunning glimpse inside one of the most secretive societies in the world. take a look. >> reporter: the most reclusive dictator in the world opens his arms and his doors to the world. an unofficial and elaborate coming out party for kim jong un, the hermit nation's hidden prince. the son of kim jong-il who one day will become its leader. this is the world's first glimpse's him in action after being named a four-star general last month. just after touching down, we're whisked to pyongyang's mayday stadium for the first event. the mass games. there are 100,000 people performing in a massive display of coordinated song, dance and gymnastics. they practiced eight hours a day every day for a year, and there's no never a guarantee that chairman kim jong-il will be in attendance. tonight, he is. what's different this time is that kim jong im appears alongside his son. when the show is over, north koreans in the audience applaud not for the performers but for their leader. next up, a massive military parade billed as the country's largest ever. a goose-stepping show of firepower by one of the largest armys in the world. kim jong-il, said to be in frail health and rarely seen in public shows up again for the second time in two days walking unaided but with one hand on the railing. [ speaking in foreign language ] this woman says, long live the general, and long live his son. here, kim jong-il flashes a rare smile, as his son jokes with elders. the crowd goes wild. jumping, clapping, even crying. then as night falls, yet another spectacle. tonight's event called the war is war ise is pure pageantry. look behind me's pt colors choreography, dancers in traditional dress. the media invited as guests. this is the invitation. make no mistake, the real guest of honor, up there in the balcony. kim jong-il and his son the heir apparent kim jong un. >> i think it was fantastic. >> reporter: this man, an actor from denmark, one of a handful of private citizens invited by the north korean government, is among those watching. what about all of the reports are oppression and the people starving and -- >> i can't see it. maybe it is there, but i can't see it. i can just see a lot of people. >> reporter: this secretive nation will soon close its doors again, leaving many questions about its future. how will the young son rule? how long can north korea continue as an isolationist state? the world's eyes are watching as north korea begins its transfer of power. >> all right. alina, first of all, let's just ask this. whether it was expected or not expected, you saw kim jong-il. he didn't seem -- he seemed a little frail that hand on the rail but didn't seem like a man on death's doorstep. >> right. he famously suffered a stroke it is believed, at least that's what is said publicly in 2008 around august or september. i was expecting a man looking much more frail than he did, quite frankly. yes, his hand was on the railing but he was walking unaided. i saw him on three separate occasions during that trip. it was quite a shock to me when i heard the news last night, and by all accounts, it was a shock to the u.s. government, and to south korea, and everyone around the world. i don't think this is any -- even though they had the succession plan in place, i think this did come, in the end, as a surprises to a lot of people. the big question will be, you know, will kim jong un, the son, 27 or 28 years old, very young man. without any military experience, kim jong-il's sister has a lot of power as does her husband, and in some circles it is believed that they will be controlling the son. >> one last thing i wanted to ask you. you spoke to the south korean's president office, the state department, both muted responses. nobody going out there and having, sort of trumpeting the death of kim jong-il. >> as you mentioned before, probably a smart response, given the state of affairs and given what we know about north korea's nuclear ambitions. >> right. >> we'll have to see what happens. in was an emergency cabinet meeting in south korea. we'll watch that closely. >> we'll talk more about kim jong-il's death and the shock of the unnoerch in the next hour with victor cha who worked in the national security council. and 7:15, bill richardson who helped win the release of americans held in north korea. we will continue to follow the latest on the bedeath of ki jong-il but