Immediately after the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was announced, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Monday told his administration to "take all possible measures to prepare for the unexpected."
Kim's death, which occurred Saturday but was only revealed Monday noon by the Pyongyang media, put the Japanese government on alert for signs of an internal collapse in the isolated nation that could turn into a state of emergency.
The prime minister also ordered the government to collect information on developments inside the North and share information with other countries, including the United States, South Korea and China.