(Photo: REUTERS/KCNA)North Koreans make a call of condolence for deceased leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency early December 21, 2011. North Korea was in seclusion on Tuesday, a day after it announced the death of its leader Kim Jong-il, as concern mounted over what would happen next in the deeply secretive nation that is trying to build a nuclear arsenal.
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As preparations for the funeral of North Korea’s Kim Jong-il take place, mythological accounts generated by the North Korean state media have continued to make extraordinary and outrageous claims of the leader’s life, death, and alleged supernatural existence.
The official biography of the Dear Leader insists he was “heaven sent.” When he died the official state news agency KCNA, regarded as the mouthpiece for the leader’s royal family, said that ice on a lake cracked “so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth” as the skies above sacred Mt. Paektu glowed red.”
“Wishing him to be the lodestar that would brighten the future of Korea, they hailed him as the Bright Star of Mount Paektu,” read the leader’s biography, according to the Washington Post.
The state agency has said that even nature mourned the death of their “Dear Leader.” This includes the country’s crane, which symbolizes longevity in North Korean culture.
“Even the crane seemed to mourn the demise of Kim Jong-il, born of Heaven, after flying down there at dead of cold night, unable to forget him,” KCNA quoted officials as saying.
Another report by the KCNA said the snowfall on the border of North and South Korea Wednesday showed the intensity of nature’s mourning.
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As the Washington Post reports, the myths revolving around Korea’s leading Kim family began with Kim’s father, President Kim Il-sung.
The 69-year-old leader died reportedly last Saturday morning of a heart attack while on a train ride, but many conspiracy theorists are questioning this report.
His body now lies at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang, awaiting ongoing funeral preparations.
North Korea announced Friday that it would accept all of South Korea’s “condolence delegations” to attend Kim’s funeral, scheduled for next Wednesday.
The funeral’s guest list grows increasingly eccentric as the burial approaches, and includes such unexpected guests as Japanese magician Mariko Itakura, whose stage name is Princess Tenko.
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