N Korea stages huge funeral for Kim Jong-il

THE world watched anxiously as North Korea staged a huge funeral in the capital, Pyongyang, for former leader Kim Jong-il, searching for signs of what to expect from the isolated nation that may be close to attaining nuclear weapons capacity.

Bleak pictures from state television showed a funeral cortege led by a limousine carrying a huge picture of the 69-year old, who died on December 17, passing serried ranks of olive green-clad soldiers whose bare heads were bowed in homage in the main square of the snow-covered capital.

A hearse carrying the coffin was led by a weeping Kim Jong-un, the son and heir, accompanied by Jang Song-thaek, his uncle and a key power-broker in the transition, and Ri Yong-ho, the army chief of staff.

“Seeing this white snow fall has made me think of the general’s efforts and this brings tears to my eyes,” Seo Ju-rim, a red-cheeked, weeping female soldier, told North Korean television, referring to Kim.

One of the myths surrounding Kim Jong-il was that he could control the weather and state media has reported unusually cold and wild weather accompanying his death.

Video showed weeping civilians who swayed with grief and shouted “father, father” as black Lincoln and Mercedes limousines and army trucks streamed past the crowds.

“I wished it was a dream, how can this be true,” sobbed one middle-aged woman named Kim. “How can anything like this ever happen in the world?”

Kim Jong-un will become the third member of the family to run the country.

Larry Niksch, who has tracked North Korea for the nonpartisan US Congressional Research Service for 43 years, believes it could take as little as one to two years to have a working nuclear missile once the North produced enough highly enriched uranium for the warhead’s core fuel.

The prospect of an untested leader, believed to be in his late 20s, having nuclear capacity has alarmed many.

“Yes, we are watching and will be analysing how any changes can be reflected in our policy,” a South Korean government official said.

State television showed Jang Song-thaek walking directly behind Kim Jong-un alongside the limousine carrying the coffin. His public elevation confirms he will play a key role in shaping policies.

An ascetic-looking, bespectacled 65-year-old, Jang has overcome a purge, bitter palace intrigue and personal tragedy to become vice chairman of the National Defence Commission, the supreme leadership council which Kim Jong-il led as head of the military state.

“Kim Jong-un is clearly the head of the new leadership but, in terms of hierarchy and influence, Jang appears to have secured considerable position,” said Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea expert at Korea University in the south.

Strong it may be — North Korea is backed by China and has a 1.2 million-strong armed forces — but prosperous it is not.

On average, the 25 million North Koreans have a life expectancy three-and-a- half years lower than they did when “Eternal President” Kim Il-sung, the new leader’s grandfather, died in 1994, according to the UN.

The UN, in a country programme for 2011-15, says North Korea’s main challenge is to “restore the economy to the level attained before 1990” and to alleviate food shortages for a third of its population.

Indications from the transition since Kim Jong-il’s death suggest his “military first” policy will continue.