Pyongyang, December 24 (KCNA) -- Xinhua Website of China posted an article praising leader Kim Jong Il over his demise.

It said:

Upon hearing the unexpected news that Comrade Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, passed away to their regret, the Chinese people express their deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the Korean people.

We have seen the Korean people deeply mourning his demise in bitter tears.

It is unexpected that he passed away on a train while devoting all efforts to the happiness of the Korean people and the building of a thriving nation.

He resolutely stood against the West's high-handed practices and pressure and thus put the DPRK, not big in terms of territory and population, on the international arena.

It is quite natural that he enjoys the love and reverence of the people.

Today standing in the van of the Korean people is the young leader.

They will invariably carry forward to the end the idea and cause of Kim Jong Il.