a great leader of North Korean people , and is a close friend of Chinese people . ... China and North Korea will make joint effort ... to consolidate and develop the ... friendship between the two countries ... and to maintain the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the region . '' CUBA Cuban state-run newspaper Granma : `` The State Council of the Republic of Cuba has declared official mourning following the death of comrade Kim Jong II , Chairman of the National Defense Committee and Secretary General of the Labor Party of the Democratic People 's Republic of Korea , on the 20 , 21 and 22 of December . '' FRANCE Foreign Minister Alain Juppe : `` There is n't much hope . It is a completely closed off regime ... We are very cautious about the consequences of this succession . We hope that one day the North Korean people will find freedom . There are ongoing talks with North Korea ... and we need to keep on talking with China and other participants to make North Korea abandon its nuclear weapon . '' -- A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said that
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Unlike in the death of any other world leader , reactions from the international community to the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il were somewhat muted . Few countries issued statements in the hours immediately after Kim 's death was announced on North Korean state television . And some , like the United States , opted to focus on its relationship with South Korea . AUSTRALIA Kevin Rudd , Foreign Minister : `` It is at times like this that we can not afford to have any wrong or ambiguous signaling . This time also presents an important opportunity to the new North Korean leadership to engage fully with the international community . On how to improve their economy in order to properly feed their people and critically on how to deal with the outstanding problem of North Korea 's nuclear weapons program . '' CHINA Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs : `` We were distressed to learn of the unfortunate passing of the senior-most North Korean leader Kim Jong-il , and we express our deep grief about this and extend our condolences to the people of North Korea . Kim Jong Il is