The hearse carrying the casket with Kim Jong Il's body through the Pyongyang streets
North Korea bade farewell to its late leader Kim Jong Il on Wednesday and began two days of funeral services with a huge funeral procession by means of a carcade around the country's capital Pyongyang in the presence of tens of thousands of North Korean soldiers with their heads bowed, and people who lined the procession route.
Before Wednesday's funeral, Kim's body had lain in state for 10 days under a glass case at the Memorial Palace. North Koreans queued in their thousands to mourn their former leader who died of a heart attack on December 17.
During brief ceremonies on the palace grounds before and after the procession, that lasted three hours, Kim's third son, Kim Jong Eun, walked at the right-front corner of the hearse bearing the former leader's body. The black limousine carrying the casket, covered in white chrysanthemums, the flower used for mourning in both Koreas was carried slowly through the streets behind a giant portrait of Kim Jong Il.
Several dozen other sedans carrying members of Kim's family and leaders of his government, followed behind, but no foreign delegations were in attendance
Kim Jong-un - who is thought to be aged 28 and who has little political experience - was shown weeping beside the hearse as it drove through the capital in heavy snow. He was accompanied by Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law and Jong-un's uncle, Chang Song-Taek and several generals who were close to his father.
As the hearse carrying Kim Jong Il' body passed by, crowds of mourners wailed and flailed their arms as soldiers struggled to keep them from spilling into the road.
North Korea plans a nation-wide memorial event at noon Thursday, when citizens will be asked to observe three minutes of silence, followed by gun volleys fired in Pyongyang and nine other provincial capitals, and trains and ships will blow whistles, horns and sirens in a final salute. The national memorial service will then begin.
The inter-Korean Kaesong industrial park has reportedly been closed for two days for the mourning following a North Korean request.
Kim Jong Il, the son of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung, ruled the country for nearly two decades, since 1994.
North Korea provided few details about the event and its state-run news agency didn't release information about it until TV broadcasting began, at least two hours after it started.
The coverage occasionally showed mourners along the procession route speaking fondly of Kim Jong Il. One soldier interviewed by North Korean state television said: "The snow is endlessly falling like tears. How could the sky not cry when we've lost our general who was a great man from the sky?” He went on to say: “As we're separated from the general by death, people, mountains and sky are all shedding tears of blood. Dear Supreme Commander!"
Another women soldier was seen saying: “The falling snow brings me even more tears because of thoughts about the general's toils. It's as if my heart is being torn to pieces." |
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