The stage management of the grief for Kim Jong-il
A foreign aid worker in North Korea has given the first eyewitness account describing scenes of mass 'stage managed' grief for the country's late 'Dear Leader' Kim Jong-il, who died last weekend.
North Koreans react as they make a call of condolence for deceased leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang Photo: REUTERS
By Dean Nelson
2:30PM GMT 23 Dec 2011
Since his death was announced by an emotional television announcer on Monday, several million North Koreans have gathered in front of portraits of the world's last true Communist dictator to weep and wail in an outpouring which state media said was "rocking Heaven and Earth." Some have flailed on the floor, beating the ground.
Officials who defected fled to South Korea told The Daily Telegraph earlier this week they had themselves taken part in stage managed shows of support for Kim Jong-il, and helped organise mass mourning for his father, Kim Il-sung, who died in 1994.
Much of the grief for respected Kim Il-sung was genuine, but his son and heir, was regarded as a reclusive, feared leader, and former officials say they have no doubt the scenes of chest-beating grief seen on television earlier this week were organised by Communist party cadres.
The foreign aid worker, in an interview with the Agence France Presse (AFP) news agency, appears to be the first eyewitness account detailing the extent to which the event is stage managed and controlled, rather than a natural outpouring of genuine grief.
"When we visited, it was surreal. Ten thousand North Koreans waiting in queues to pay their respects, coming to the front in groups of 100, bowing down and crying.
"All combined with flood lights, strong icy winds and melancholic music and voices from loudspeakers. Everything, meanwhile, being well documented by about 20 photographers and 10 TV camera teams," he said.
But by Friday morning one of the main mourning sites, at a monument to Kim Il-sung, was deserted. He and his colleagues had expected to lay flowers at the monument in Kim Il-sung Square, the focus of the mourning, on behalf of his organisation but when they arrived government officials said his own employees had already laid a giant wreath – identical to many others – bearing the slogan:
"The Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong-il will live eternally" which it attributed to the agency. "It was very awkward. Let's see what our organisation says about that," he said.
His aid workers were then asked to place the wreath in front of an image of the late 'Dear Leader' while being photographed by state media. Analysts said some of the grief on display was by state officials who have benefited from Kim's brutal 17 year regime while others were acting out of fear.
The stage management will culminate in the state funeral next week, when few foreigners are expected to attend. One colourful exception could be the Japanese magician 'Princess Tenko' who was reported to have performed for the late dictator in 1998 and 2000 and enjoyed several private dinners with him.
South Korea's former first lady Lee Hee-ho, the widow of late President Kim Dae-jung, has been given permission to attend in acknowledgement of the 'sunshine policy' of reconciliation her late husband pursued.
