Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and his wife, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have expressed condolences over the death of former President Kim Dae-jung.

Bill Clinton said in a statement released Tuesday that Kim was a courageous leader with great ideas. He said Kim moved South Korea beyond a serious economic crisis, paved a path to peace on the Korean Peninsula, defended human rights globally and won a richly deserved Nobel Prize.

Clinton said he was honored to work together with Kim for reconciliation between the two Koreas, adding that Kim’s “Sunshine Policy” offered more hope for lasting peace than at any time since the Korean War.

The former U.S. president also said he and his wife convey their deepest condolences to the bereaved family of the late president and the South Korean people.