SEOUL — In a city of gray buildings, with snow covering the wide streets and wailing mourners lining the sidewalks, North Korea on Wednesday staged an extravagant farewell to dictator Kim Jong Il, his casket covered in a red revolutionary flag.
The funeral for the man known as North Korea’s “Dear Leader” marked an official junction in the nuclear-armed state’s second father-to-son power transfer, as the state-run media told the nation that its next leader, Kim Jong Eun, was every bit worthy of his predecessor.
The younger Kim, thought to be in his late 20s, led the outdoor funeral procession, walking alongside the black hearse that transported his father’s body. Kim’s uncle, Jang Song Thaek, an apparent caretaker in the power transfer, walked several steps behind, along with other Workers’ Party and military officials.
State television, broadcasting to the outside world, showed hours of the choreographed imagery that underpins the Kim family personality cult. The funeral motorcade was led by a black sedan, its roof affixed with a massive portrait of a smiling Kim Jong Il. The hearse followed close behind, flanked by several Jeeps, then trailed by a fleet of black Mercedes Benzes and a formation of goose-stepping, flag-bearing soldiers.
The procession traveled a 25-mile loop around Pyongyang, the capital, passing Kim Il Sung Plaza, Kim Il Sung Stadium, and a Paris-like Arch of Triumph, North Korea’s state-run news agency said. At times, snow fell so heavily that the black-clad mourners could scarcely see the motorcade until it materialized in front of them, Kim Jong Il’s portrait emerging from the whiteness.
Based on the television footage, tens of thousands — at minimum — lined the streets. In the open plaza spaces, they formed perfect geometric rows. Television close-ups showed scenes of hysterical grief, with soldiers pulling at one another in agony and women dropping to their knees. One middle-age man, interviewed by the state news agency, could barely manage to speak.
The displays typified North Korea’s unusual brand of theater, where it is often difficult to differentiate the staged from the real. At times, footage clearly was played on a loop, with repeating shots of the motorcade and the grieving crowd. But the broadcast was carried “live,” North Korea said.
“Kim Jong Il’s heart has stopped,” a narrator said, “but his generous image will forever stay in people’s hearts.”
Kim Jong Eun was shown only at the very beginning and the very end of the three-hour broadcast, as the hearse departed from and returned to a memorial palace where the Dear Leader’s body had been lying in state.
North Korean media has already declared Kim Jong Il’s youngest son the Great Successor, and the state’s propaganda arm has worked since the elder Kim’s death to assure a smooth transfer of power.
In a Wednesday editorial, North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper described Kim Jong Eun as the “supreme leader of our party and people.” He will take “warm care of the people left by Kim Jong Il,” the editorial said.
Posts
