North Korea Mourns Kim Jong Il Death

North Koreans have shown extraordinary displays of grief in the days since the death of their leader Kim Jong Il on December 17th. Dec 28, 2011 marked the start of a two day funeral ceremony, as thousands of North Koreans lined the snowy streets of Pyongyang to witness the procession of vehicles as it made its way to Kumsusan Memorial Palace. 

Official North Korean news sources have been declaring Kim Jong Un the "great successor," but questions about the transition and future governance of the volatile, secretive state continue to make foreign governments wary. South Korean intelligence recently indicated that North Korea has tightened security in cities, put troops on alert and won loyalty pledges from top generals after Kim's death as it consolidates power behind the anointed heir. 

Collected here are images, most of them official North Korean releases, of the public mourning in North Korea. 

The body of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il lies in state at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang, on December 26, 2011. (Reuters/KCNA)  

North Koreans make a call of condolence for deceased leader Kim Jong Il at the Kim Il Sung Plaza in Pyongyang in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency early December 21, 2011. (Reuters/KCNA) 

Click to read more »

Inside North Korea - The Nation Under Isolation

Earlier this year, David Guttenfelder, chief Asia photographer for the Associated Press, along with Jean H. Lee, AP bureau chief in Seoul, were granted unprecedented access to parts of North Korea as part of the AP's efforts to expand coverage of the isolated communist nation. 

The pair made visits to familiar sites accompanied by government minders, and were also allowed to travel into the countryside accompanied by North Korean journalists instead of government officials. Though much of what the AP journalists saw was certainly orchestrated, their access was still remarkable. 

Collected here are some of Guttenfelder's images from the trip that provide a glimpse of North Korea.

A view of central Pyongyang, North Korea, at dusk on April 12, 2011. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelde

A statue known as the Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification, which symbolizes the hope for eventual reunification of the two Koreas, arches over a highway at the edge of Pyongyang, North Korea, seen on April 18, 2011. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)  

Click to read more »

Kim Jong Il - 1942-2011

North Korean state television reported the death of North Korea's longtime ruler Kim Jong Il. Kim reportedly died two days earlier, on Saturday, December 17, 2011, suffering a heart attack while riding on a train outside Pyongyang. 

The 69-year-old had been North Korea's "supreme leader" since 1994, after succeeding his father, Kim Il Sung, the founder of the communist state. Kim Jong Il presided over a long-suffering, isolated nation, antagonized the western world, indulged himself while millions starved, and funneled much of the country's meager funds into military spending and the pursuit of nuclear weapons. 

His nominal successor, son Kim Jong Un, remains untested and the sudden power vacuum in such an unpredictable nation has neighbors, allies, and enemies on edge. 

Collected here are images from the life and times of North Korea's Kim Jong Il, and a few recent images from the reclusive country and those who have noted his passing.

In this April 25, 2002 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, leader Kim Jong Il salutes the people at the military parade by the Worker and Peasant Red Guard that celebrates the 90th anniversary of leader Kim Il Sung and the 70th anniversary of the North Korean People's Army. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Images) 

A young Kim Jong Il, left, takes part in a souvenir picture during his childhood with his parents, Kim Jong Suk, right, and leader Kim Il Sung. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service)  

Click to read more »