Pyongyang, December 20 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Federation of Koreans in the United States on Monday released a statement on the demise of Kim Jong Il, chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission.

The statement expressed deep condolences over his demise.

The efforts made by the Chairman to put an end to the national division and achieve the prosperity and reunification of the country and his feats will go down forever in the history of the Korean nation, it said.

The federation sends condolences to the compatriots of the DPRK in the bitterest grief, it added.