US President Barack Obama on Tuesday mourned South Korea's former president Kim Dae-Jung, praising his "tireless efforts" to promote peace on the Korean peninsula.
"I was saddened at the passing of former president Kim Dae-Jung of the Republic of Korea, a courageous champion of democracy and human rights," Obama said in a written statement.
"President Kim risked his life to build and lead a political movement that played a crucial role in establishing a dynamic democratic system in the Republic of Korea.
"His service to his country, his tireless efforts to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, and his personal sacrifices on behalf of freedom are inspirational and should never be forgotten.
"On behalf of the American people, I extend my condolences to his family and to the Korean people."
Dissident-turned-president Kim died at 85 on Tuesday in hospital, after being admitted on July 13 with pneumonia and related complications.
Kim won the Nobel Peace Prize after paying a historic trip to the communist North in 2000 as part of a "sunshine policy" aimed at bringing peace to the world's last Cold War divide.
Bill Clinton, who was president at the time and paid his own trip to Pyongyang this month to free two US journalists, said that the sunshine policy "offered more hope for lasting peace than at any time since the Korean War."
Calling Kim a "good friend," Clinton said Kim told him on their first meeting in 1992 that he "represented the same new approach to politics that I did."
"Kim Dae-Jung was a brave and visionary leader who moved South Korea beyond a serious economic crisis, paved a path to peace on the Korean Peninsula, defended human rights globally and won a richly deserved Nobel Prize," Clinton said.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Obama mourns South Korea's Kim Dae-Jung
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