• – President
Serzh Sargsyan sent condolences. The message was reported to have been addressed to the DPRK's president, who would in fact be the
Eternal President of the Republic Kim Il Sung, who died in 1994. • – Called on governments, including North Korea's, for "calm and restraint" in the aftermath of Kim Jong Il's death, and also urged the DPRK to "engage with the global community". Foreign Minister
Kevin Rudd stated, "[i]t is at times like this that we cannot afford to have any wrong or ambiguous signaling. This time also presents an important opportunity to the new North Korean leadership to engage fully with the international community. On how to improve their economy in order to properly feed their people and critically on how to deal with the outstanding problem of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme". • – President
Ilham Aliyev sent a letter to
Kim Yong-nam, Chairman of the Presidium of the
Supreme People's Assembly, which stated, "I was deeply saddened to hear about the death of the prominent statesman, Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Chairman of the National Defence Commission, Kim Jong-il. On behalf of myself and the people of Azerbaijan, I expressed my deepest condolences to you, to the family of the deceased and to your people over this heavy loss". • – President
Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina each sent their condolences to North Korea over Jong-il's death. "The people of DPR Korea have lost a great leader and we have lost a dear friend", President Rahman said. Prime Minister Hasina said, "Our hearts are with the members of the bereaved family and the people of DPR Korea and we pray that they will be able to bear this irreparable loss with courage and fortitude." • – President
Alexander Lukashenko sent his condolences to
Kim Jong Un over his father's death. • – "Kim Jong-il has died, but the friendship and bilateral cooperation between North Korea and Cambodia will never die", a spokesman for the Cambodian Council of Ministers said. The spokesman continued, "North Korea is a sovereign country and can make whatever political decisions it needs to for the good of their land – they know what is best for them. But for us, we have a relationship that has been improving, and over time this has opened up many opportunities for bilateral trade". Meanwhile, the Minister of Information
Khieu Kanharith said the death of Kim Jong Il was a "great loss". Kanharith added, "We hope that (Kim's) plans to act as a mediator for reconciliation of the two Koreas continue in the interest of the peninsula, Asia and the world". • – Prime Minister
Stephen Harper said, "Kim Jong Il will be remembered as the leader of a totalitarian regime who violated the basic rights of the North Korean people for nearly two decades. We hope his passing brings positive change allowing the people of North Korea to emerge from six decades of isolation, oppression and misery. ... At this critical juncture, we urge North Korea to close this sad chapter in its history and to work once more towards promoting both the well-being of its people and stability on the Korean peninsula.” • – Foreign Minister
Yang Jiechi met with Pak Myong-ho, chargé d'affaires of the DPRK Embassy in Beijing. He expressed the belief "the DPRK people would remain united with the leadership of the
Workers' Party of Korea and comrade Kim Jong-Un, turn their sorrow into strength, achieve new progress in socialist construction, and make new contributions to realizing the sustainable peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula". Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu called Jong-il a "great leader" and added Beijing would continue to offer its support and make "active contributions to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in this region". • – President
Ivo Josipović expressed condolences to the citizens of DPRK and said, "Dear HE Kim Jong-un, I, on behalf of the people of the Republic of Croatia and on my own, express condolences on the demise of the great leader of the Korean people HE Kim Jong-il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army. I extend condolences to all the people of the DPRK". • – "Cuba's
Council of State has declared official mourning due to the passing of comrade Kim Jong-il", an official statement said, noting that Cuba's flag would be flown at half staff from 20 to 22 December. • – President
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo expressed his and the Equatoguinean people's "deepest condolences" regarding Kim Jong Il's death in a letter addressed to Kim Jong Un. • – "At this hour of mourning, we express our heartfelt sympathy and deep condolences to the people and government of the DPRK", President
Girma Wolde-Giorgis wrote in a letter of condolences addressed to Kim Jong Un. • – The
Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that France "reaffirms its commitment to peace and stability in the peninsula and hopes the North Korean regime will evolve in a positive way... Our thoughts go to North Korean people who have been suffering for years from misery and lack of human rights... France will carry on its action for North Korean people, especially by supporting humanitarian programs..." Also, French Foreign Minister
Alain Juppé is quoted as having said, "There isn't much hope. It is a completely closed off regime ... We are very cautious about the consequences of this succession. We hope that one day the North Korean people will find freedom. There are ongoing talks with North Korea ... and we need to keep on talking with China and other participants to make North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons". • – President
John Atta Mills, on behalf of himself and the Ghanaian people, expressed condolences to Kim Jong Un, the government, and people of the DPRK over the demise of Kim Jong Il. Mills also said that Ghana is confident that the "DPRK will advance in unity to attain the goal of building a thriving socialist nation under the leadership of Kim Jong-un, the great successor, and the Workers' Party of Korea". • – Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh mourned Kim Jong Il's death and expressed hope that DPRK would overcome its grief with "courage and fortitude". The Minister of State for External Relations,
E. Ahamed, signed the condolence book at the Embassy of the DPRK observing that "it is with a deep sense of sorrow that we have learnt about the sad demise of H.E Kim Jong Il". • – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent condolences in the name of the government and the people of Indonesia in a press release. "[The] Indonesian government and people pray for the surviv[ing] family, government, and all North Koreans to be given strength and fortitude during these hard days". • –
The Journal reported that Ireland had said it had "no plans to issue a statement of any kind on the death of the North Korean leader". • –
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda held an emergency national security council meeting with top Cabinet members soon after the news of Jong-il's death broke. Chief Cabinet Secretary
Osamu Fujimura told journalists in Tokyo that the Prime Minister had instructed them to be prepared in case of any unexpected developments. Fujimura expressed condolences and said Japan hoped Kim Jong Il's death would not affect the region, or North Korea, adversely. • – President
Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj and Prime Minister
Sükhbaataryn Batbold sent a joint letter of condolences to
Kim Jong Un concerning his father's demise. • – Myanmar's Minister for Foreign Affairs
Wunna Maung Lwin, signed the Condolence Book opened at the Embassy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. A Government official told AFP that "Myanmar will convey its condolences over the demise of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il" adding "[w]e do not know much about his successor, his son. But we think things can change in his term, especially their economic policy. The misunderstanding with the international community over the relationship between Myanmar and North Korea lately has been removed". • – President
Ram Baran Yadav and Prime Minister
Baburam Bhattarai both sent their condolences to
Kim Jong Un over his father's death. President Yadav expressed "deep sorrow" at the demise of Jong-il, and said that the "death of (Jong-il) has been an irreparable loss to the people and the government of the DPRK, and Nepal has lost a friend, too". Prime Minister Bhattari echoed the Nepalese President by saying that Nepal has lost a "great friend". • – First Lady and government spokeswoman
Rosario Murillo said that "the people of Nicaragua and the Government of Nicaragua feel North Korea's pain", and that she hopes North Korea will continue its "process of constructing more peace and more prosperity for all the families of that country". She also said that president
Daniel Ortega sent his “profound condolences for the death of Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il”. • – President of Pakistan
Asif Ali Zardari expressed condolences to the people of North Korea and said the Kim Jong Il had commanded great respect among his people and that he will be missed by his people. • – President of the Palestinian Authority
Mahmoud Abbas said that throughout his whole life, Jong-il has always stood out for global justice and truth and that he strongly supported the cause of the Palestinian people as well. President Abbas also said that the foundations of relations between North Korea and an independent Palestinian state had been laid out between Kim Il Sung and
Yasser Arafat. • – The Department of Foreign Affairs released a statement, saying "The Government and people of the Philippines convey our condolences to the Government and people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on the death of President Kim Jong-Il... [t]he Philippine Government values its relations with the DPRK and will continue to cooperate with them to intensify the promotion and maintenance of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, including in the Korean Peninsula, to ensure the region's continued prosperity". • – "We observe the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the East Asia region after the death of Kim Jong Il", said a statement by the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw. Foreign Minister
Radosław Sikorski "hopes that after the death of the North Korean leader, authorities will act responsibly and in accordance with tie expectations of the international community and the Korean nation", it also stated. • –
Qatar News Agency said Emir Sheikh
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, as well as
heir apparent Sheikh
Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani had sent cables of condolences to North Korean leader-designate Kim Jong Un on the death of his father. • –
President Dmitry Medvedev expressed condolences over the death of Kim Jong Il, the Kremlin press service reported on Monday. Medvedev also held a phone conversation with South Korean President
Lee Myung-bak concerning Kim Jong Il's death, according to the report. The two leaders discussed several issues of common concern, including regional integration and stability. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said: "The DPRK is our neighbor. We maintain a good-neighborly relationship. Of course, we hope that the loss of Kim Jong-Il will not have any impact on the development of our friendly relations with the DPRK". • – Swedish Foreign Minister
Carl Bildt said on his Twitter account that "The death of a dictator is always a period of uncertainty for a dictatorship, and North Korea is the hardest dictatorship in our time". • – Foreign Secretary
William Hague said "The people of North Korea are in official mourning after the death of Kim Jong-Il. We understand this is a difficult time for them. This could be a turning point for North Korea. We hope that their new leadership will recognise that engagement with the international community offers the best prospect of improving the lives of ordinary North Korean people. We encourage North Korea to work for peace and security in the region and take the steps necessary to allow the resumption of the Six Party Talks on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula". • – Vietnam sent its "deepest condolences" to North Korea on the death of "Comrade Kim Jong-il". It added, "We believe that the DPRK's people will overcome this great loss and continue to strive for building and developing their country". ==Parties and organizations==