N Korea calls Kim's son 'supreme leader'
An overhead view of North Koreans gathering during the memorial for late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, in this still image taken from video December 29, 2011.
North Korea's Kim Jong-il's son has been declared the country's new “supreme leader” as huge crowds filled Pyongyang's main square on the second day of a state funeral.
For a memorial in honor of the country's late leader Kim Jong-il on Thursday, hundreds of thousands of people, including high ranking government officials and military officers, gathered in the capital city's main square to pay their last respects.
The successor to the leadership, Kim Jong-Un, attended the ceremony along with senior party officials.
State media described Kim Jong-Un, the late leader's third son, as the "supreme leader of the party, state and army.”
With bowed heads and somber looks the crowd observed a three-minute silence for the late leader.
North Korean authorities staged a huge funeral procession on Wednesday in the snowy streets of the capital Pyongyang for the deceased "dear leader," Kim Jong-il, preparing for a transition to his son, Kim Jong-un.
The North Korean leader died of a heart attack on December 17 at the age 69. He had ruled the Asian nation since the death of his father in 1994.
MSH/MB/MA
