"Dear Leader" Kim, groomed since 1980 by "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung as the communist's world's first dynastic successor, took over when his father died in 1994.
Kim Jong-il was named supreme military commander in 1991 and communist party secretary in October 1998, both titles formerly held by his father. But he declined to assume the title of president, having his late father designated "eternal president" in 1998.
Kim was rarely seen or photographed before he burst on to the world stage in 2000, hosting an unprecedented summit with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.
Kim's years in power have been marked by economic decline and starvation, brought on by natural disasters and mismanagement of the state-controlled economy.
Yesterday's congratulatory message on KCNA acknowledged difficulties without mentioning the famine that aid agencies say has killed hundreds of thousands, if not more than a million, of North Korea's 23 million people.
Bush painted a different picture, telling South Korean television the North was "starving and hopeless."
"People starve to death in North Korea. That is very sad. It shouldn't happen in the 21st century," he said.
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