The body of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is now lying in state in Pyongyang with his third son, the expected new leader Kim Jong-un, among those paying tribute.

Releasing still photographs, state media said the younger Kim, hailed as ‘a great person born of heaven’, was joined by party, government and military officials.

No other heads of state are being invited to next week’s funeral, described by the regime as an internal affair. In the meantime, 11 days of mourning continue for Kim Jong-il, said to have died on Saturday of a heart attack aged 69.

The authenticity of the unrestrained outpourings of public grief in North Korea may be open to question. But Kim, the so-called ‘Dear Leader’ who ruled for 17 years, was revered at home by a propaganda machine that turned him into a demi-god.

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