THE widow of former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung, the author of a now-jettisoned engagement policy with North Korea, crossed the fortified land border between the two sides yesterday to pay her respects to deceased dictator Kim Jong-il.

South Korea has offered its condolences to North Korea’s people as they mourn the death of long-time ruler Kim Jong Il.

A SENIOR executive with South Korean industrial giant Hyundai, whose business spearheaded reconciliation efforts with North Korea but ended up tangled in debt and scandal, leapt to his death from his 12th-floor office window yesterday.