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After days of wintry mourning, heavy snow blanketed Pyongyang on Wednesday for the funeral of Kim Jong-il, the late leader of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Tens of thousands of people lined the snowy Pyongyang streets on Wednesday, wailing and clutching their chests as a black hearse carrying Kim Jong-il's body wound its way through the capital.

The funeral procession from the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where Kim's body had lain in state, was accompanied by top military and party officials. Son and successor Kim Jong-un was the head mourner, walking with one hand on the hearse, the other raised in salute, his head bowed against the wind.

The funeral procession passed by huge crowds of mourners, most of them stood in the snow with their heads bare, and many screaming and flailing their arms as soldiers struggled to keep them from spilling onto the road.

The procession to the city's main plaza, Kim Il-sung Square, where hundreds of thousands of DPRK people have been paying their respects over the past 10 days.

Sobs and wails filled the air as mourners stamped their feet and cried as the hearse passed by. Video showed weeping civilians who swayed with grief and shouted "father, father".

"Seeing this white snow fall has made me think of the general's efforts, and this brings tears to my eyes," Seo Ju-rim, a red-cheeked, weeping female soldier, told the DPRK TV.

"How can the sky not cry?" a weeping soldier standing in the snow said to state TV. "The people ... are all crying tears of blood."

Like his father Kim Il-sung's funeral in 1994, Kim Jong-il's coffin was wrapped in a red flag. A limousine carrying a huge portrait of a smiling Kim led the procession, and soldiers followed the hearse and lined the streets. A national memorial service will take place at noon on Thursday, DPRK media said.

Wednesday's procession was accompanied by military music, the DPRK's state media said the memorial route was about 40 km long, though top officials did not walk the entire route.

The procession ended after about three hours with 21 guns fired in salute as the top leadership looked on from a podium.

Heavy snow was falling in Pyongyang, which state media characterized in the early days of mourning as proof that the skies were "grieving" for Kim Jong-il as well.

（中国日报网英语点津 Rosy 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.