President Yoon Suk Yeol has conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family of former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday at the age of 91.
The top office said Yoon sent a condolence message to Irina Virganskaya Gorbachev, the daughter of the late leader and vice president of the Gorbachev Foundation, on Wednesday.
In the message, Yoon said Gorbachev ended the Cold War and led efforts for reconciliation and peace. He also called the last leader of the Soviet Union a pioneer who laid the firm foundation for friendly and cooperative ties between South Korea and Russia by establishing diplomatic ties in 1990.
Yoon said Gorbachev was a leader who demonstrated that a state of conflict like the Cold War can be changed by a single individual’s determination, adding that the deceased is a hero who gave his all for the freedom of the Soviet people.
Yoon said the world will long remember the deceased’s determination, leadership and legacy of freedom and peace.
Source: KBS World Radio