The funeral itself occurred on 28 December. The , 3-hour funeral procession was covered in snow (which local newscasters described as "heaven's tears") as soldiers beat their chests and cried out "Father, Father." A
Lincoln Continental limousine carried a giant portrait of Kim Jong Il. Jong Il's casket, draped by the Korean Workers' Party flag, was carried on top of another Lincoln Continental hearse while Kim Jong Un and his uncle
Jang Sung-taek were immediately behind. Army chief of the general staff
Ri Yong-ho and defence minister Vice-Marshal
Kim Yong-chun walked along the opposite side of the vehicle during the procession segments in the
Kumsusan Memorial Palace. The procession returned to Kumsusan Palace where Jong-un stood flanked by the top party and military officials who are expected to be his inner circle of advisers as rifles fired 21 times, then saluted again as
goose stepping soldiers carrying flags and rifles marched by the palace square. Reportedly, Jong Il's body will be embalmed and put on display indefinitely in the manner of Kim Il Sung and other Communist leaders such as
Vladimir Lenin,
Mao Zedong, and
Ho Chi Minh. The convoy during the funeral procession was composed of lead patrol cars, the funeral hearse and its escorts, military escorts, motorised colour guards, an
OB van of
Korean Central Television, various cars (including a fleet of black
Mercedes), and trucks carrying wreaths and five
military bands from the KPA. On the day of the memorial service, 29 December,
Chairman of the Presidium,
Kim Yong-nam, gave an address to mourners gathered in
Kim Il-sung Square. Kim Yong-nam told mourners that "The great heart of comrade Kim Jong-il has ceased to beat... such an unexpected and early departure from us is the biggest and the most unimaginable loss to our party and the revolution," and that North Korea would "transform the sorrow into strength and courage 1,000 times greater under the leadership of comrade Kim Jong-un." General
Kim Jong-gak addressing the memorial service on behalf of the military, saying "Our people's military will serve comrade Kim Jong-un at the head of our revolutionary troops and will continue to maintain and complete the
Songun accomplishments of great leader Kim Jong-il". Songun refers to Kim Jong Il's policy of prioritising the "military first" in economic decisions. and senior party and military officials. The assembly concluded with a military band playing
The Internationale. State television then broadcast a military choir and wind band performing
The Song of General Kim Jong Il to formally conclude. Kim Jong Un's elder brothers,
Kim Jong-nam and
Kim Jong-chol, are not known to have been in attendance either at the lying in state or on either date, the funeral or the memorial service. On 1 January 2012, the Japanese daily
Yomiuri Shimbun reported that
Kim Jong-nam secretly flew to Pyongyang from
Macau on 17 December 2011, after learning about his father's death that day and is presumed to have accompanied Kim Jong Un when paying his last respects to their father. He left after a few days to return to Macau and was not in attendance at the funeral in order to avoid speculation about the succession. According to
Daily NK, anyone who did not participate in the organised mourning sessions or did not seem genuine enough in their sorrow has been sentenced to at least six months in a labour camp. Mourners were also barred from wearing hats, gloves or scarves even though the temperature that day was —presumably so authorities could check to make sure they were displaying sufficient grief. North Korea angrily denied this accusation, blaming it on "reptile media" in the pay of the South Korean government. A photo slideshow from
The Los Angeles Times does show multiple mourners with gloves and scarves. ==Reports of mourning==