North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's funeral started outside the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang at 2 p.m. Wednesday and was shown live on state TV.The transmission was introduced by Ri Chun-hui, who had also announced his death and that of his father Kim Il-sung 17 years ago.
An escort vehicle preceded another vehicle carrying a large portrait of Kim Jong-il in the snow-covered plaza in front of the mausoleum. The vehicles were followed by a car carrying a wreath in the name of Kim Jong-il's son and new leader Jong-un and a hearse. A glass coffin with the body was set on top of a Lincoln Continental, the same car used for Kim Il-sung's coffin.
The coffin stood on a bed of white chrysanthemums and was shrouded in a red Workers Party flag.
Footage showed Kim Jong-un but neither his half brother Jong-nam nor his brother Jong-chol.
| Since they didn't want to join dear old Dad in the ground... |
The motorcade slowly circled around Kim Il-sung Square, which was packed with mourners. After a brief ceremony there, the motorcade drove back to the palace, where it arrived around 4:45 p.m.
A 21-gun salute was fired. Around 5 p.m., Kim Jong-il was finally laid in state at the mausoleum alongside his father. When Kim Il-sung died, a 24-gun salute was fired.