Nature mourns for Kim Jong-il's death?

Scenes of mourning for Kim Jong-il have been broadcast
on the state television.

According to KCNA (Korean Central News Agency), strange natural phenomena have been witnessed in North Korea since the death of the country's leader Kim Jong-il.

Ice cracked on a famous lake "so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth," and a mysterious glow was seen on a revered mountain top, KCNA said.

The personality cult surrounding North Korea's founding father and son bestows near-divine status on them.

Meanwhile, on a separate news, South Korean intelligence has questioned how Mr. Kim died.

Citing US satellite photos, the country's national intelligence service director Won Sei-hoon said there was no sign that the special train, on which Mr. Kim is reported to have died while on a visit on Saturday, had ever left Pyongyang over the weekend.

South Korea's president says Seoul is trying to show no hostility towards Pyongyang, Lee Myung-bak said a return to stability in the communist state was in the interests of the region.

Seoul is also sending its top nuclear negotiator to Beijing for talks on the situation in its northern neighbor.

In North Korea, state media continue to report mass grieving following Mr. Kim's death, reportedly from a heart attack.

Message carved in rock

The 69-year-old had led North Korea since the death of his father in 1994 and an elaborate personality cult, involving multiple stories of alleged miracles or astonishing deeds, has been built up around him.

Following the storm's sudden end at dawn on Tuesday, a message carved in rock - "Mount Paektu, the holy mountain of revolution. Kim Jong-il" - glowed brightly, it said. It remained there until sunset.

On the same say, a Manchurian crane also apparently adopted a posture of grief at a statue of the late leader's father in the northern city of Hamhung.

"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 reported officials as saying.

On Wednesday state media said more than five million people had already turned out to pay their respects to Kim Jong-il.

State media have called on North Koreans to unite behind his designated heir, youngest son Kim Jong-un, who is being called the "Great Successor."

Observers fear that because the transfer of power from father to son had not been formalized before Mr. Kim's death, it could trigger instability. Regional neighbors are keenly watching events in the internationally-isolated nuclear-armed state.

South Korea, which remains technically at war with its northern neighbor following the 1950-1953 Korean War, put its military on a state of alert after Mr. Kim's death was announced.

But it has also scrapped a plan to turn on controversial Christmas lights on the border that anger North Korea, and offered "sympathies" over the death.

"The measures we have taken so far are basically aimed at showing North Korea we are not hostile toward the North," Yonhap news agency quoted the president as saying on Thursday.

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North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il died at age 69

Kim Jong-Il

North Korea's longtime leader, Kim Jong-Il, has died of heart failure.

MSNBC.com labeled him as North Korea's longtime dictator who allowed his people to starve while building a vast military. Well, I'm not sure if that was meant to be a compliment or an insult, but that really depends on point of view.

His death sparked immediate concern over who is in control of the reclusive state and its nuclear program.

Citing YTN TV, Reuters also reported that North Korea test-fired a short-range missile off the country's east coast on Monday.

A "special broadcast" from the North Korean capital, state media said the 69-year-old died of a heart ailment on a train due to a "great mental and physical strain" on Saturday during a "high intensity field inspection." It said an autopsy was completed on Sunday and "fully confirmed" the diagnosis.

A spokesperson at the Unification Ministry confirmed Kim's death to NBC News. His funeral will be held on December 28.

Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008, but he had appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media.

The communist country's "Dear Leader" - reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine - was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.

"It is the biggest loss for the party... and it is our people and nation's biggest sadness," an anchorwoman clad in black Korean traditional dress said in a voice choked with tears. She said the nation must "change our sadness to strength and overcome our difficulties."

Kim Jong-Il is going to be succeeded by his youngest son, Kim Jong Un.

Video from Chinese state television showed residents of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, weeping while KCNA reported people were "Writhing in pain" from the loss.

Jim Hoare, a British former diplomat who served in North Korea after the countries established relations in 2000, told Sky News that Kim's death left considerable uncertainty.

"Nobody can be sure what change will be like," he said. "We don't really know who has power, who doesn't have power. We're always guessing."

Hoare said that television footage showing emotional North Koreans could be seen as "formalized grief."

"This is what people expect to do on a sad occasion," he added. "Whether they genuinely feel it, I don't know."

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