North Korea Kim Jong il Funeral- Kim Jong Un

Kim Jong il Funeral North Korea
PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea's next leader escorted his father's hearse in an elaborate state funeral on a bitter, snowy day Wednesday, bowing somberly and saluting in front of tens of thousands of citizens who wailed and stamped their feet in grief for Kim Jong Il.

Son and successor Kim Jong Un was head mourner on the gray day in Pyongyang, walking with one hand on the black hearse that carried his father's coffin on its roof, his other hand raised in salute, his head somberly bowed against the wind.
At the end of the 2 1/2-hour procession, rifles fired 21 times as Kim Jong Un stood flanked by the top party and military officials who are expected to be his inner circle of advisers. Kim then saluted again as goose-stepping soldiers carrying flags and rifles marched by.

Although analysts say Kim Yong Un is on the path toward cementing his power and all moves in North Korea so far — from titles giving him power over the ruling party and military and his leading position in the funeral procession — his age and inexperience leave questions about Kim's long-term prospects. Whereas his father was groomed for power for 20 years before taking over, the younger Kim has had only about two years.

He also faces the huge challenges of running a country that struggles to feed its people even as it pursues a nuclear weapons program that has earned it international sanctions and condemnation.

Kim Jong Il — who led with absolute rule after his father Kim Il Sung's death in 1994, through a famine that killed hundreds of thousands and the pursuit of nuclear and missile programs — died of a heart attack Dec. 17 at age 69.

Mourners in parkas lined the streets of Pyongyang, waving, stamping and crying as the convoy bearing his coffin passed. Some struggled to get past police holding back the crowd.

"How can the sky not cry?" a weeping soldier standing in the snow said to state TV. "The people ... are all crying tears of blood."

The dramatic scenes of grief showed how effectively North Korea built a personality cult around Kim Jong Il despite chronic food shortages and decades of economic hardship.

A large challenge for North Korea's propaganda apparatus will be "to counter the public's perception that the new leader is a spoiled child of privilege," said Brian Myers, an expert on North Korean propaganda at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea.

"Having Kim Jong Un trudge mournfully next to the hearse in terrible weather was a very clever move," Myers said.

Even as North Koreans mourned the loss of the second leader the nation has known, the transition of power to Kim Jong Un was well under way. The young man, who is in late 20s, is already being hailed by state media as the "supreme leader" of the party, state and army.

Kim was somber in a long, dark overcoat as he strode alongside his father's hearse accompanied by top party officials behind him and key military leaders on the other side of the limousine — a lineup that was a good look at who will be the core leadership in North Korea.

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[limolimbo]

So whos the new Panad Porkchop? Like his haircut.....did they use a rice bowl?

[UnkownSoldier117]

That country and its leaders need to burn in hell. Free those who are mistreated and make way for a better North Korean generation under liberty and peace. If North Korea attacks Japan, South Korea, or the U.S., Jesus Christ I hope we bomb their military back to the stone age!

[RubndelaHood]

I thought Americans were dramatic 

[felipezorro]

only the high communist commanders are fat , ROFL, the rest of the people are all skinny . If u dont cry u get shoot , LOL

[MINIAWARFR]

crazy people

[MsFriedchiken]

great now a crazy fat asian kid controls nuclear misles

[hla27b]

If you no cry WE CRY YoU long time!!