North Korea’s state-run news agency is reporting that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter expressed his condolences following the death of brutal dictator Kim Jong Il.
“In the message Jimmy Carter extended condolences to Kim Jong Un and the Korean people over the demise of leader Kim Jong Il,” read a report on the Korean Central News Agency’s website flagged by Business Insider’s Zeke Miller.
“He wished Kim Jong Un every success as he assumes his new responsibility of leadership, looking forward to another visit to [North Korea] in the future,” it continued.
Needless to say, the Korean Central News Agency is not the most reliably accurate news outfit on the face of the earth, but The Washington Times reports that Carter hasn’t yet denied the report. And given some of his eccentric policy comments over the past several years, Carter’s condolences to Pyongyang might not come as much of a surprise.
Carter has visited North Korea twice since 1994. After an attack on a South Korean island last year, Carter said it was “designed to remind the world that they deserve respect in negotiations that will shape their future.”