The foreign ministry has expressed its condolences on behalf of the South Korean people on the news that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter died Sunday at the age of 100.

The ministry said Monday that Carter dedicated his life to promoting the universal human values of global peace, democracy and human rights, having won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions.

Crediting the former president for his great interest in and active efforts to enhance peace on the Korean Peninsula, the ministry said South Korea holds his spirit and achievements in high regard and will remember him forever.

Seoul also plans to send a telegram to express its condolences under the name of acting President Choi Sang-mok.

During his presidential campaign, Carter pledged the step-by-step withdrawal of U.S. troops from the peninsula while taking issue with human rights violations under the military regime of then-President Park Chung-hee, sparking discord after Park asked Carter to stop intervening in internal affairs.

Long after his term as president ended, Carter flew to Pyongyang in 1994 to negotiate terms of dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea with the country’s then-leader Kim Il-sung, after the regime declared its intention to withdraw from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

In August 2010, Carter visited Pyongyang to win a special amnesty for American Aijalon Mahli Gomes, who was sentenced to eight years of hard labor by the North for illegally entering the country.