(AP) SEOUL, South Korea - Late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il kept the world guessing in death as in life, with state media keeping quiet about the timing and details of his funeral Wednesday.
Kim, who led the nation with an iron fist following his father Kim Il Sung's death in 1994, died of a heart attack Dec. 17 at age 69, according to state media. He is to be succeeded by his young son Kim Jong Un, already being hailed as the "supreme leader" of the party, state and army.
After 11 days of mourning, a funeral was set for Wednesday and a memorial service for Thursday. Foreign news agencies based in Pyongyang, including Russia's ITAR-Tass and China's Xinhua new agencies, reported late Wednesday morning that a funeral had begun.
North Korea's sole TV station, however, was showing only taped footage of sobbing mourners filing past Kim's begonia-bedecked bier, a military orchestra playing odes to Kim and archive footage of Kim making "on-the-spot" field trips.
At noon, a broadcaster in a dark suit gravely read out a news dispatch about Kim Jong Un visiting his father's bier on Tuesday with top party and military officials. He noted that Kim Jong Il's body had been lying in state in Kumsusan Memorial Palace, suggesting the body was moved. Full Article here
