|
After the closed-door funeral, Kim was seen in the footage leaving the hall and standing on a dais sheathed in red, surveying the scene alongside top party and military officials as the black Lincoln Continental bearing his father's body departs the palace grounds to a military salute. A car with the massive portrait ringed with white magnolias led the motorcade, followed by the hearse bearing the president's body, and then a phalanx of police in white helmets riding on motorcycles in a "V" formation. Kim Jong Il and other members of the funeral committee followed slowly in sedans. Soldiers in jeeps flanked the procession. North Koreans lined the streets and filled the air with theatrical wails, many of the women in traditional black dresses and with white mourning ribbons affixed to their hair. The procession reached the central square that bears Kim Il Sung's name, where hundreds of thousands of mourners were waiting. The hearse circled the square before returning to the assembly hall for a gun salute. A similar procession may be in the works for Wednesday, but with the late leader's trademark red "kimjongilia" begonias replacing the magnolias, and snow and frost as a backdrop. State media said a national memorial service for Kim Jong Il would start midday Thursday and include an artillery salute, three minutes of silence and locomotives and vessels blowing their sirens. Footage Tuesday from Associated Press Television News in Pyongyang showed long lines of people carrying wreaths and bunches of white flowers toward a building with a huge picture of a smiling Kim Jong Il on its facade. They piled flowers beneath the photo, bowing and crying as they stood in the cold. Some pledged their loyalty to Kim Jong Un. Light traffic flowed through Pyongyang's streets, people drinking hot tea at makeshift tents set up on the sidewalks. The funeral for Kim Jong Il, who made it state policy to revere his father as North Korea's "eternal" president, will likely be similar to Kim Il Sung's but probably not outdo it, said Prof. Jeong Jin-gook of the Daejeon Health Sciences College in South Korea. "Kim Il Sung still remains the most respected among North Koreans," he said. Kim Jong Il may have put his personal stamp on his father's funeral, but so far Kim Jong Un is sticking to tradition. From the blue suit to the solemn bows before the begonia-bedecked bier, the young leader-in-waiting has closely followed his father's cues. Still, he is credited with one directive that seems likely fodder for his official biography: According to state media, he instructed the city to keep mourners lined up in subzero temperatures warm with hot water and tea.
[Associated
Press;
Jean H. Lee, the Associated Press bureau chief for Korea, has made 11 trips to North Korea since 2008, including eight visits this year.
Follow Jean H. Lee at
http://twitter.com/newsjean.
Copyright 2011 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor