Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin on Wednesday paid tribute to former South Korean President Kim Young-sam, who died three days ago at age 87.
A Chinese delegation led by Liu visited a memorial altar set up at the South Korean Embassy in Beijing earlier in the day.
After paying tribute, Liu wrote in a guestbook that he "expresses deep condolences" for the death of Kim.
Foreign diplomats in Beijing, including Japan's ambassador to China, have also paid their respects to Kim, embassy officials said.
Kim, who was in power from 1993-98, died of a blood infection and heart failure on Sunday.
As an iconic figure of South Korea's pro-democracy movement, the former president fought against military rulers for decades and laid the groundwork for a peaceful power transfer in a country that had been marked by military coups.

Source: YONHUA.