State TV shows procession moving through Pyongyang against backdrop of snowfall and clearly audible outpouring of grief
Tens of thousands of people have endured freezing temperatures in Pyongyang to bid farewell to the former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in a meticulously-choreographed funeral designed to cement his legacy and transfer power to his youngest son, Kim Jong-un.
In death, as in life, Kim had kept the outside world guessing ? this time about the timing of his funeral. The Russian and Chinese media said the images coming from Pyongyang on Wednesday were live, but the abundance of natural light at the end, just as it was getting dark in Seoul, suggested they were recorded.
Reports said the capital's citizens had been mobilised to clear snow from the funeral cortege's 40km route from the Kumsusan memorial palace, where Kim's body had been lying in state.
North Korean state TV showed the procession moving slowly through the streets against a backdrop of snowfall and a clearly audible outpouring of grief from mourners, most of whom were wearing dark green military uniforms.
The three-hour procession may have helped answer key questions about the communist regime's immediate future amid fears that the rapid rise of the inexperienced Kim Jong-un could spark a power struggle and potentially threaten regional security.
Kim Jong-un, wearing a long black coat but no hat, walked in front of the hearse carrying his father's casket which was wrapped in a red flag ? a sign that the succession is proceeding as the older Kim had envisaged when he unveiled the youngest of his three sons as his heir at a military parade in October 2010.
The younger Kim bowed his head slightly and held a military salute as the motorcade left the mausoleum grounds. Just behind him was Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law, Jang Song-thaek, whom many expect to help the new leader tighten his grip on power in the coming months.
With them was Ri Yong-ho, the army's chief of staff, and other senior military officials.
In front were cars carrying a large wreath draped with black ribbons and a huge portrait of a smiling Kim Jong-il dressed in his trademark khaki suit.
Following them were about a dozen black Mercedes-Benz sedans and a larger fleet of white luxury cars. The only military vehicles on display were the Jeeps surrounding Kim Jong-il's hearse.
The former leader's two other sons, Kim Jong-nam and Kim Jong-chol, did not appear in any of the footage.
The early stages of the procession were watched by banks of soldiers, some of whom held on to each other for support. Women in civilian clothes further along the route shook with grief and clasped handkerchiefs to their mouths.
Some in the crowd could be heard shouting: "How could you leave us? What are we supposed to do without you?"
It was not immediately clear whether Kim Jong-il would be buried or embalmed and placed on permanent display next to the body of his father at the Kumsusan mausoleum.
The funeral proceedings are expected to last for two days. On Thursday, a national memorial service will feature an artillery salute, to be followed by a three-minute silence at noon, and trains and ships sounding their horns in unison.
Wednesday's procession was accompanied by a slow march by a military band and commentary from the same tearful newscaster who announced Kim Jong-il's death last week. In addition to eulogies, she said that under Jong-un's leadership, "North Korea will experience only victories."
The state media used the snowy weather to bolster myths about Kim Jong-il's birth in a log cabin on the Korean peninsula's highest peak, Mount Paektu, although Soviet records show he was born in Russia.
"The feathery snowfall reminds the Korean people of the snowy day when the leader was born in the secret camp of Mount Paektu and of the great revolutionary career that he followed through snowdrifts," the Korea Central News Agency said.
"It seems the sky knows well of how much he got snowed on during his uninterrupted field guidance tour for the happiness of the people."
Citing the snowy weather, one soldier told North Korean state TV: "A national tragedy has occurred ? how could the sky not cry? The people are all crying tears of blood."
Seo Ju-rim, a weeping female soldier, said: "Seeing this white snow fall has made me think of the general's efforts, and this brings tears to my eyes."
After its trawl through Pyongyang, the cortege arrived back at the memorial palace, with Jong-un again at the side of the hearse. Later, a 21-gun salute signalled the end of the proceedings.
State media have sought to burnish Kim Jong-il's reputation as an inspired military leader who brought prosperity and progress to what, by any measure, is one of the world's poorest countries.
He died of a heart attack on 17 December aged 69, leaving behind a country that is some way towards developing nuclear weapons as part of his "military first" policy.
As soon as his death was announced last Monday ? two days after the fact ? there were fears that North Korean military elites, resentful of the younger Kim's rapid rise to power, could block his accession and plunge the country into chaos.
Kim Jong-un, who is aged 28 or 29, had a little over a year to prepare for power after his first public appearance at a military parade in October 2010.
Fears of a political vacuum appear to have been allayed, however, with senior military and officials from the ruling Workers' party reportedly pledging loyalty to him.
North Korean media have started referring to him as "supreme commander" of the armed forces. The Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the Workers' party, has also described him as the head of the party's central committee, one of the country's most powerful decision-making bodies.
On Wednesday, state media declared that the country was now in the "warm care" of Kim Jong-un. He will be advised by a small group of "senior revolutionaries", including his aunt Kim Kyong-hui and uncle Jang Song-thaek, whose first task will be to ensure stability at least until the country marks the centenary of Kim Il-sung's birth next April. Kim Jong-il had been expected to use the anniversary to pronounce North Korea a "strong and prosperous nation" and a bona fide nuclear power.
Jong-un will continue to pursue the military first policy of his father, said Jeon Hyun-jun of the Korea Institute for National Unification.
"North Korea's economic crisis and security problems will not be solved easily in the future," he wrote in a commentary for the Daily NK website, adding that the term "military first" had appeared 21 times in Rodong Sinmun editorials on 22 December alone.
Jeon said he believed the party and military would not oppose their new leader and that the weakest link is the people, whose loyalty to the regime has been weakened by glaring faults in the food distribution system.
"We must not fall into the trap of using a hardline policy towards North Korea," he wrote. "Rather, we must let it be known that the rice of the North Korean people is not given by their general or supreme leader, but by the US and South Korea. We are in great need of a strategic plan."
The younger Kim will inherit a country that is close to mounting nuclear warheads on its ballistic missiles, according to a US expert.
Larry Niksch, who spent 43 years monitoring North Korea for the US congressional research service, said in a study that the regime could miniaturise and mount a nuclear warhead on a medium-range Nodong missile within one or two years.
Siegfried Hecker, the former head of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, said last year that the North's uranium enrichment programme was more advanced than had previously been thought.
Hecker, who visited North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex in November 2010, believes the country would have to conduct a third nuclear test ? the first two were conducted in 2006 and 2009 ? to be certain that its warhead technology was sound.
"If the test is successful they may be able to have the capability within a couple of years," he told Reuters. "We simply don't know what else they have and how much highly enriched uranium they can make or have made."
Before the funeral coverage started, about four hours later than scheduled, North Korean state TV was showing archive footage of Kim Jong-il's early days as leader, including his vaunted trips to farms and factories to offer "field guidance".
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/28/kim-jong-il-funeral-thousands-mourn
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