Kim Jong Il's funeral procession: A 'show of stability'?

The video: On Wednesday, an estimated crowd of at least 200,000 mourners lined the streets of Pyongyang to bid farewell to their "Dear Leader," the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, who died earlier this month of a heart attack at age 69. The "carefully choreographed" funeral procession was led, perhaps as a "show of stability," by Kim's son, Kim Jong Un, who was named Kim's successor prior to his death. (Watch the top video, embedded below.) The deceased dictator's casket laid on top of a black hearse and was covered by a red revolutionary flag as it was driven on a 25-mile loop around Pyongyang. A massive portrait of Kim was affixed to the vehicle's roof. Mourners wept histrionically as the procession passed. (Watch the bottom video, embedded below.) The funeral was delayed by unexpected snowfall, which the state media claimed as symbolic. One mourner said, "A national tragedy has occurred; how could the sky not cry?"

The reaction: The procession's "elaborate choreography" was intended to "unite the country in grief, and make the change of power more secure" by thrusting Kim Jong Un into the forefront, firmly establishing him as the country's new leader, says John Simpson at BBC News. "Many people in the crowd will have taken comfort from it, just as the North Korean authorities wanted." If there were any doubts that Kim Jong Un is the "anointed prince," says Andrew Salmon at the U.K.'s Telegraph, "there are none now." Not only did the successor lead the cortege, his elder half-brothers were nowhere to be found. But remember, this is a young, untested leader transitioning to power in a highly unstable country, says Donald Kirk at the Christian Science Monitor. The pomp and circumstance can't mask the troubling reality that North Korea is on the verge of collapse "under the weight of the hunger, poverty, and disease" afflicting its 24 million citizens. See for yourself:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up