North Koreans Begin Observing 2-Day Long Funeral For Kim Jong Il
Tens of thousands of North Koreans soldiers lined the snow filled streets of Pyongyang on Tuesday as the 2-day funeral of fallen leader Kim Jong Il began.
Walking alongside the former leaders hearse was son and successor Kim Jong Un who was followed by senior officials of the North Korean government.
As the procession continued on its way the State run TV network showed throngs of citizens in different states of ecstatic emotion.
On state media Kim Jong Il legacy was overplayed even in death with an announcer proclaiming that the snowfall reminded everyone of “the great revolutionary career” of the “great leader” as he “followed through snowdrifts.”
On Thursday a national memorial service will be held at which time observers will watch closely to determine where officials stand inside the countries new hierarchy.
An analyst close to the countries situation tells CNN:
“What I expect to see is no sign that there’s any hiccup or difficulty in Kim Jong Il’s plan to have his son Kim Jong Un succeed him.”
As I reported earlier this week many North Korean officials including some of their top leaders had stalled their return from China in order to determine if defecting from the country made more sense as Kim Jong Un began to take over power.
