North Korean leader Kim Jong-il Monday expressed condolences to the family of former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Yonhap News Agency reported Monday, quoting Pyongyang's official news agency.
"On hearing the news that former President Roh Moo-hyun died in an accident, I express profound condolences to widow Kwon Yang-sook and his bereaved family," Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency.
The report did not say whether Kim sent a letter to Roh's family.
Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said Kim was paying his tribute through state media and that no letter had been received by the family, adding that is "not likely, given current inter-Korean relations."
Roh leaped to his death from a cliff behind his rural home in the country's southeastern region Saturday morning. The former President had come under investigation for bribe-taking after allegations emerged that his wife and son and his brother's son-in-law had been given more than $6 million by a corrupt businessman.
North Korea briefly reported the news Sunday. On the cause of his death, state media only said that South Korean and foreign media reports were suspecting "the mental burden caused by the intensive investigation of the prosecution."
Kim's message came amid deadlocked inter-Korean relations. Pyongyang has cut off dialogue with Seoul's conservative government led by Roh's successor, Lee Myung-bak, who has taken a tougher stance on the North's nuclear program and human rights condition.