john voss, cnn, beijing. >> china is north korea's closest ally, and the news of kim jong il's death is being reported there. to get a closer look at reaction in china, let's go to stan grant in beijing now. stan, china has expressed its condolences. give us a reaction from beijing. >> reporter: absolutely. one statement put out from china, and that's all they're saying at the moment. other questions were asked. this was at a ministry of foreign affairs briefing. they've put those questions on notice for later. what they're officially saying right now is they're extending condolences to north korea, saying kim jong il had done great things for the cause of socialism, saying also they want to work for stability in the area, and that is going to be the key here right now and really put china in the fray. china is the closest ally to north korea, the one that seems to be able to exert the most influence, although it has been questioned at times in the past, and try to bring stability. with kim jong il's passing, it leaves a lot of questions being asked for kim jong un, the successor. ju

john voss reports. >> reporter: with the buf font hair, oversized sunglasses and trademark jumpsuit, he looked every bit the nutty tyrant. >> the appearance made it a little more difficult to treat him seriously at least at first. >> reporter: he was the dictator with the reputation for indulge in fine wine and prostitutes. he held total power, developed nuclear weapons an forced the u.s. to negotiate. >> that is not necessarily the work of a womanizing booze-swilling individual drunk during the day. >> reporter: inside north korea it was all about kim, portrayed by his propaganda machine as a political, military, technological, artistic and cinematic genius, a renaissance man who has flown fighter jets and shot 11 holes in one at his first try at golf. his public appearances were breathlessly reported on state media. he was haled as the central brain and the morning star. he was a crazed ruler who loved to make people dance, a million of them all at once and all in step. he presided over a nation more cult than country. you chase away fierce storms and gave us faith they sing. his o

john voss reporting now. >> will he actually be in control?ome speculation it will in fact, be his uncle who may be calling the shots, even though it is the son who is a figure head. it will be his older uncle who will essentially be the power behind the throne if you like. >> you're right there, john. to identify the uncle is interesting. he's the husband of kim jong-il's sister and has occupied various senior positions within the military. you are right. has been identified as a person lurking behind the scenes who could potentially wield great power. also jim jong-un did accompany his father on a trip to china, almost an introduction to the chinese leadership. and while it was the only trip, there have been regular meetings between the chinese leadership, chinese envoys who have been going back and forth into north korea. so those lines of communication are not just one way. obviously, they work two ways. and china has had a pretty direct line in there and has sent envoys back and forth for some time. as has the united states. the united st