TOKYO, Dec 19, 2011 (AFP) - The dollar rose against other currencies on Monday following news that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il had died, which sparked worries over instability in the reclusive state.

The greenback gained ground as market players digested the announcement from North Korean state television that he had died on Saturday.

The dollar bought 78.00 yen in Tokyo early afternoon trade, up from 77.81 yen in New York late Friday. The euro fell to $1.2988 from $1.3032 while staying almost flat against the Japanese currency at 101.32 yen.

The South Korean won tumbled to 1,177.60 to the dollar from 1,156.90 on Friday.

Market players are concerned his son and likely successor Kim Jong-Un, who is in his late 20s, is "too young" and "inheriting a very difficult situation,"

which could lead to instability in relations with China and Japan, said a senior dealer at a bank in Singapore.

Traders were nonplussed by the news that European finance ministers would hold a conference call later in the day.

"We can't expect much, or even something more positive for the euro from the meeting," a senior dealer at a major bank in Tokyo said.

The only plausible euro-positive factor would be the European Central Bank buying more Italian bonds, but that is not likely to happen for the time being.

"The euro has only one way to go: down," he told Dow Jones Newswires.

Eurozone finance ministers will hold talks to flesh out euro-saving plans made at a Brussels summit this month.

With several bloc members facing the threat of downgrades, a key focus of the telephone conference will be boosting International Monetary Fund (IMF) coffers to enable it to come to the aid of floundering economies.

At the recent summit, which saw Britain block plans for an EU treaty change to save the currency, member countries announced plans to pump 200 billion euros ($260 billion) into an IMF warchest.