UN chief pays tribute to former ROK president

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday paid tribute to Kim Dae-jung, former president of the Republic of Korea (ROK), who passed away earlier in the day.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon offers flowers to the portrait of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung at the memorial room of Severance Hospital in Seoul, South Korea on Aug. 18, 2009. Kim Dae-jung died at the age of 85 at 1:43 p.m. (0443 GMT) Tuesday, Park Chang-il, chief of Seoul's Severance Hospital said. (Xinhua/Newsis)

"The secretary-general is filled with great sorrow and a sense of personal loss at the death of Kim Dae-jung," Ban said in a statement issued by his press office.

"He expresses his deepest sympathy and condolences to the widow and family of Kim Dae-jung, as well as to the people and government of the Republic of Korea," the statement said.

Ban praised the former ROK leader and Nobel Peace laureate as "a great son of the Korean nation and a compassionate champion of human rights and democracy."

"He inspired millions with his unswerving commitment to the reunification of Korea through his "sunshine policy" of engagement between the North and South," Ban noted, paying tribute to Kim's "noble life of dedication to the goals of peace, democracy and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula."

The UN chief, a former ROK foreign minister, has wrapped up a visit to his native country by paying tribute to Kim, the United Nations said Tuesday.

In Seoul, the capital, Ban visited the temporary mourning altar set up for Kim and voiced his sorrow and sense of personal loss.

While in Seoul, the secretary-general discussed how to resolve the nuclear crisis in neighboring Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and other global challenges, including climate change, with the current leader, President Lee Myung-bak.