South Korean lawmakers held emergency meetings of various committees to discuss the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and how to cope with its aftermath.

The North's state media reported earlier in the day that the 69-year-old Kim died of a heart attack on Saturday. South Korea's military has been placed on emergency alert and its foreign ministry also placed its overseas diplomatic missions on an emergency standby.

On Monday, Parliamentary Speaker Park Hee-tae ordered the committees on foreign affairs, trade and unification, national defense and intelligence to hold special sessions to discuss parliamentary-level emergency measures.

Floor leaders of the ruling Grand National Party and the main opposition Democratic Party will also meet later in the day to seek measures to minimize the impact in the peninsula, party officials said.

Political parties are paying close attention to the power transition and possible power struggle in the North, as Kim's youngest son and heir apparent Kim Jong-un, aged in his late 20s, was tapped to be the communist state's next leader.

Whether the young leader could propel the Kim dynasty into a third generation is a crucial issue to the political parties, which are preparing next year's major polls.

South Korea elects a new parliament in April and picks a new president in December next year. It is the first time in two decades that the two polls will be held in the same year.