Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- Liu Hongcai, Chinese ambassador to the DPRK, and staff members of his embassy here on Wednesday laid wreaths before the bier of leader Kim Jong Il.

Wreaths in the name of the ambassador and the embassy were placed there.

Written on the ribbons of the wreaths were letters reading "In Memory of Comrade Kim Jong Il".

They paid silent tribute in humblest reverence to the bier of Kim Jong Il and went round it.

They made entries in the mourners' book.