BONGHA, Republic of Korea: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) top leader expressed sorrow yesterday at the death of the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s former president Roh Moo-hyun, as ROK people mourned and recalled a leader who championed the oppressed but whose legacy was tarnished by a corruption scandal.

Kim Jong-il's message of "profound condolences" for Roh's wife Kwon Yang-sook and other family members was carried on the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

People in the ROK, meanwhile, mourned Roh for a third day in one of the biggest outpourings of national grief in years. About 190,000 mourners have journeyed to the rural village of Bongha, where Roh resided, to pay respects to the former leader, who jumped off a cliff to his death on Saturday amid a probe by prosecutors into allegations he and his family took $6 million from a businessman.