Kim Jong-il lies in state as son leads mourning

This screen capture of the TV footage shows Kim Jong-il's body lying in state at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang on Tuesday. DPRK television showed the body of the late leader in a glass coffin as his son and successor Kim Jong-un and other senior officials paid their respects. Agence France-Presse

In this image from AP video, Kim Jong-un (center), DPRK leader Kim Jong-il's youngest son and successor, visits the body of his father with top military and Workers' Party of Korea officials at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang on Tuesday. Associated Press

PYONGYANG - Kim Jong-un, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), paid his respects on Tuesday at the bier of his father and top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong-il, the official KCNA news agency reported.

According to KCNA, Kim Jong-un visited the bier at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace with senior party, government and army officials.

The bier was surrounded by flowers and the body of Kim Jong-il was covered by a red flag. Marked on the front of the bier was "1942-2011" and the DPRK national emblem, the report said.

The shoulder straps of DPRK Marshal, Kim Il-sung Order, Kim Il-sung Prize, medals of the Hero of the Republic and Hero of Labor and many other orders and medals presented to the late leader were set out before the bier, while next to it was a wreath from Kim Jong-un.

Members of the National Funeral Committee stood guard by the side of the bier, and guards representing the three services of the Korean People's Army (KPA) and the Worker-Peasant Red Guards stood on either side, it said.

As funeral music played, Kim Jong-un and the officials entered the hall and walked around the bier, the report said.

The participants included Kim Yong-nam, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, Choe Yong-rim, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and DPRK premier, and Ri Yong-ho, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and chief of the KPA General Staff.

People in the DPRK were in "deep sorrow at the loss of the benevolent father of our nation", Ri Ho-il, a lecturer at the Korean Revolutionary History Museum, told The Associated Press in Pyongyang.

"He defended our people's happiness, carrying on his forced march both night and day," Ri said.

"It is as if your father had died. They cried themselves blind," said Kim Dong-soo, a worker from the Republic of Korea (ROK) at a kitchen utensil maker at a joint venture in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the DPRK.

"Today is also full of tears. They can't even speak a word," he said as he crossed back into the ROK.

With the country in an 11-day period of official mourning, flags were flown at half-staff at all military units, factories, businesses, farms and public buildings. The streets of Pyongyang were quiet, but throngs of people gathered at landmarks honoring Kim.

The state funeral is to be held at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace on Dec 28.

Xinhua-AP-Reuters