Tens of thousands of North Koreans wept and wailed in an emotional tribute to late leader Kim Jong-il on Wednesday as a hearse carrying his body passed through snow-covered Pyongyang in a solemn funeral ceremony.
Some North Korean women beat their breasts in grief while male soldiers bowed their heads deeply to a motorcade that included a hearse decorated with white chrysanthemums, a traditional mourning flower, according to a live broadcast by the North's state television.
A leading vehicle also carried a huge portrait of Kim with a broad smile on his face.
Kim, who ruled North Korea with an iron fist and pursued nuclear weapons programs in defiance of international pressure, was reported to have died suddenly of heart failure on Dec. 17 at the age of 69.
Kim's youngest son, North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un, walked at the right front of the hearse as the funeral motorcade departed from the plaza of the Kumsusan Memorial Palace toward downtown Pyongyang for a 40-odd kilometer trip, according to state media.
The late Kim's brother-in-law, Jang Song-thaek, and other top military and political leaders closely walked behind their new leader.
Jang, who was recently promoted to a four-star general, has long been considered a key regent in helping smooth the way for a third-generation power transition.
Kim Jong-un had been groomed to succeed his father as the country's next leader since his father suffered a stroke in 2008. The junior Kim made his public debut last year when he was named a four-star general and vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party.
North Korean soldiers and ordinary citizens poured into the streets in Pyongyang in freezing temperatures to pay their last respects to Kim, turning areas into what state media called "a veritable sea of wailing last farewell-bidders."
"Fatherly General, don't go please," the crowd cried out as they broke into bitter lamentation, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
Some North Koreans fainted, overwhelmed by bitter sorrow, the state news agency quoted military officer Kim Kyong-jun as saying from a mourning venue.
"I fainted while mourning here. I am missing leader Kim Jong-il so much," An Ri-ho, an 86-year-old woman, told the KCNA as she choked back tears.
The state news agency lauded the late Kim as the illustrious commander born of heaven who performed great exploits, a peerlessly great man and the sun of the nation.
The massive cult of personality the late Kim enjoyed along with his late father, the country's founder Kim Il-sung, appears likely to continue despite Kim's demise. The country's founder is still called the eternal president despite his death in 1994.
"The great leader Comrade Kim Jong-il will live forever," read a placard seen in the streets where national flags were hoisted at half-mast, according to the KCNA.
After a three-hour funeral procession, which included a brief stop at Kim Il-sung Square, Kim's body returned to lie in state in the Kumsusan Memorial Palace at 5 p.m., home to the embalmed body of his father and North Korea founder Kim Il-sung.
The North's state media also heaped praises on its deceased "Dear Leader" for his efforts to build a nuclear state and his revolutionary legacy, which it claims promises a bright future for the North.
North Korea, one of the poorest countries in the world, has vowed to build a prosperous nation by next year, the centennial of the birth of Kim's father, the country's late founder Kim Il-sung.
"North Korea has been dignified as a country that manufactured and launched artificial satellites and accessed nukes," the North's main Rodong Sinmun said in a political essay carried by the KCNA.
North Korea conducted two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, drawing international condemnation and tightened U.N. sanctions.
The state funeral, its first since 1994, was delayed for at least four hours due to heavy snow that began Tuesday night. North Korea mobilized its people to sweep away the snow before bidding their last farewell to the leader, the KCNA said.
North Korea has urged its 24 million citizens to faithfully follow Kim Jong-un's leadership, calling him "an outstanding leader and a great sun."
In Korea, about 50 North Korean defectors floated anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the North near the heavily fortified border in their latest campaign to encourage North Koreans to "rise up" against the Pyongyang regime. (Yonhap)