Dear Leader's body goes on show at palace

The body of North Korea's long-time ruler Kim Jong-il went on display in a memorial palace today as weeping mourners packed public squares.

The Dear Leader was placed in a coffin and covered with a blanket while his head rested on a white velvet pillow. Military officials and high-ranking Workers' Party officials slowly filed past Kim's coffin which was surrounded by armed guards.

The body went on show at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang, a mausoleum where the embalmed body of Kim's father - national founder Kim Il-sung - has been on display in a glass sarcophagus since his death in 1994.

While many thousands continued to pay their respects at monuments across the nation, attempts to build the successor's status increased.

State media hailed Kim Jong-un - the third son of Kim who died of a heart attack aged 69 on Saturday - as "born of heaven" and said he was "the spiritual pillar and the lighthouse of hope" for the military and the people.

But the threat of a power struggle has left North Korea's neighbours nervous. South Korea's military is on high alert, and experts warned that the next few days could be a turning point for the North, which though impoverished by economic mismanagement and repeated famine, has a relatively well-supported, 1.2 million-strong army.

There are also fears Kim's death could set back efforts by America and others to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.

Concerns are also high that Kim Jong-un - being young and largely untested - may feel he needs to prove himself by precipitating a crisis or displaying his swagger on the international stage.

Kim Jong-il was in power for 17 years after the death of his father, and was groomed for power years before that. Kim Jong-un only emerged as the likely heir over the past year.

Sarah McDowall, senior analyst with US-based consultant IHS, said: "There are real concerns that heir-apparent Kim Jong-un has not had sufficient time to form the necessary alliances in the country to consolidate his future as leader of the country."