uriman summed it up pretty well on the passing ofKim Il Sung in 1994:

Many people here will say these people are faking it, but I would say most are not. This is a result of devoted nationalism and years of propaganda resulting in true fanaticism. Same thing happened when Mao died. This is a result of N. Korea's personality cult for the Dear Leader. There's a photo of him in the most trafficked room of every house, at every workplace and every school. When you want shit, he's your fucking Santa. There's no religion allowed and you grow up being told by teachers, parents, elders, national media, etc how awesome the Leader is. What else are you going to believe?People who grew up before that time either shut up and played along, didn't know better and were swept along with the propaganda or were killed/jailed. It's like post 9/11 call to invade Afghanistan X1000. No one questions it. Of course the longer you play along, the more you believe.When the guy dies, it's like if Justin Bieber dies to a tween and their entire life is crushed. Many people genuinely cry and feel sorrow. Many people try to out do the other people to show they hurt more than everyone else. Some go along with it and then feel genuinely sorrow.This is why it's a bad idea to invade N. Korea. The citizens are so devoted that I gather that most will sacrifice themselves to protect the guy.