North Koreans Mourn 'Dear Leader'

North Korea's propaganda machine gave Kim Jong Il the status of a demigod—one that the totalitarian state is now mourning. Video aired on Chinese TV shows throngs of people in Pyongyang weeping at news of the leader's sudden death, reports Reuters, and state TV reports that people are "writhing in pain." A 10-day period of mourning has been declared ahead of Kim's funeral on Dec. 28. Similar scenes followed the death of Kim's father, Kim Il Sung, in 1994, and there were reports of many people being crushed to death among the huge crowds that attended his funeral, notes the Daily Mail. (More Pyongyang stories.)