It's hard to make an objective statement that describes the grief of a people. Equally difficult is determining whether or not it is "genuine". Defector testimony, while not without bias paints the period in many ways. Both Demick's Nothing to Envy and Bradley's Under the Loving Care include depictions of genuine grief, of feeling that they had lost their guide and revered father. They also include testimony from people who faked their grief because it was expected and one said that many people returned to grieve in public places more than once because the authorities were distributing food. Some report a mix of attitudes. There were also some defectors in Demick's book that described their genuine reverence for Il - Sung that continued after defection, even if they're more critical of the state under his son.