"On behalf of the government and people of Indonesia, the President of the Republic of Indonesia expresses his deepest condolences on the passing away of the Supreme Leader of the DPRK, His Excellency Kim Jong-Il," the foreign ministry said in an official statement carried by its website here on Monday.
According to the statement, the government and people of Indonesia offered their prayers for the bereaved family as well as the government and people of North Korea, so that they would have the strength and forbearance in overcoming this moment of loss.
The Indonesian government also expected that that North Korea will be able to overcome this difficult period and make further progress in accordance with the aspirations of the North Korean people and nation.
The government of Indonesia had every confidence that North Korea will continue its commitment to contribute to the maintenance of peace, security and prosperity in the Korean Peninsula and the Asia Pacific region in general.
Kim Jong Il passed away Saturday (Dec 19) at the age of 69 "from a great mental and physical strain," the DPRK`s official KCNA (Korea Central News Agency) news agency reported on Monday.
Kim, who took over North Korea after his father and national founder Kim Il-sung died in 1994, "passed away from a great mental and physical strain" during a train ride at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, the Korean Central News Agency said in an urgent dispatch.
Kim`s health is believed to have worsened after he apparently suffered a stroke in 2008.
His body will be placed in the Kumsusan Memorial Palace where the embalmed bodies of his father and the late national founder lie, according to KCNA.
The North Korean government has set a mourning period from Dec. 17 to Dec. 29, though it said it won`t accept foreign delegations at the funeral ceremony scheduled to be held in Pyongyang on Dec. 28.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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