Tens of thousands of North Koreans lined snow-covered streets on Wednesday,wailing and clutching their chests as a black hearse carried late leader Kim Jong-ils body through the capital for a final farewell that ended with a 21-gun salute. The funeral procession on a gray,freezing day was accompanied by top military and party officials,but there was little doubt who the leader was. Son and successor Kim Jong-un served as head mourner,walking with one hand on the hearse,the other raised in salute,his head bowed against the wind. State media,which over the past week have called Kim Jong-un great successor, supreme leader and sagacious leader,made it clear that the familys hold on power would extend to a third generation,declaring the country in the younger Kims warm care. At the end of the procession,Kim Jong-un again walked along with the limousine with his hand cocked in a salute. The funeral procession,which began and ended at Kumsusan Memorial Palace,where Kims body had lain in state and where his father,North Korean founder Kim Il Sung,is preserved,passed by huge crowds of mourners,most of them standing in the snow with their heads bare,many screaming and flailing their arms as soldiers struggled to keep them from spilling onto the road. 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 scenes of grief provide a clue at how effective North Korea has been in building a personality cult around Kim Jong-il even though people have suffered greatly from food shortages. The Norths neighbours and the US are also pressing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons programme. Kim,who led the nation with an iron fist following his father Kim Il Sungs death in 1994,died of a heart attack December 17 at age 69,according to state media. Even as North Koreans mourned the loss of the second leader the nation has known,the transition of power to Kim Jong-un was 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. Like his fathers in 1994,Kim Jong-ils coffin was wrapped in a red flag. A limousine carrying a huge portrait of a smiling Kim led the procession,and soldiers followed the hearse and lined the streets. A national memorial service will take place at noon Thursday,state media said.
