North Korea holds huge funeral for Kim Jong-il
10:03 28/12/2011
MOSCOW, December 28 (RIA Novosti) - Hundreds of thousands are expected to pay their last respects to former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as the reclusive country begins a two-day funeral service for its deceased “dear leader.”
Kim Jong-il’s third son, Kim Jong-un, the intended successor of the North Korean leadership, did not take part in the funeral motorcade for his father’s death but “expressed his profound condolences,” the main North Korean news agency, the KCNA, reported.
According to the North Korean state news agency, Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack while traveling on a train on 17 December, aged 69. However, U.S. and South Korean intelligence sources stated that he could not have died on the train as it had been stationary all week.
He has been lying in state since then and the funeral in the capital Pyongyang is expected to mirror that of Kim’s father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994.
Kim Jong-un, who is thought to be in his late 20s and is expected to take over as head of state, tops the list of members of the “national funeral committee” published by KCNA.
Wednesday’s spectacle, which is expected to be used to formalize the younger Kim’s succession, will involve much pomp and a show of military force.
Kim Jong-un received condolences on his father’s death, inlcuding from the head of Russia’s Republic of Buryatia, which the late leader visited for talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev this summer in his last overseas trip.
No foreign delegations are attending the funeral.
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