Ice cracked on a famous lake “so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth”, and a mysterious glow was seen on a revered mountain top, state news agency KCNA said.
A snowstorm hit as Mr Kim died and ice on the volcanic Chon lake near his reported birthplace at Mount Paektu cracked, it said.
Following the storm’s sudden end at dawn on Tuesday, a message carved in rock – “Mount Paektu, holy mountain of revolution. Kim Jong-il” – glowed brightly, it said. It remained there until sunset.
On the same say, a Manchurian crane also apparently adopted a posture of grief at a statue of the late leader’s father in the northern city of Hamhung.
“Even the crane seemed to mourn the demise of Kim Jong-il, born of Heaven, after flying down there at dead of cold night, unable to forget him,” KCNA reported officials as saying.
On Wednesday state media said more than five million people had already turned out to pay their respects to Kim Jong-il.
