South Korea's government has sent condolences to the North Korean people on the death of their leader Kim Jong-Il, despite tense relations following two deadly border incidents last year.
"The government expresses condolences to the North Korean people," said Unification Minister Yu Woo-Ik.
Mr Yu said Seoul would not send a government mourning delegation to Pyongyang, which has in any case said it would not host foreign delegations.
Meanwhile, Korean television has showed the body of late leader Kim Jong-il lying in state in a glass coffin, as his son and successor Kim Jong-Un and other senior officials paid respects.
The still photos showed a sombre dark-clad Jong-Un and others, some in military uniform, circling a flower-bedecked bier supporting the casket.
The body of Kim senior was dressed in his trademark khaki tunic, with most of the corpse covered by a red sheet, at Pyongyang's Kumsusan Memorial Palace.
Official media have reported scenes of mass grief since Kim's death at the age of 69 was announced yesterday.
State media said he had died two days earlier of a heart attack during a train trip.
The North has set the funeral for 28 December and urged people to rally round the son as "great successor".
US 'deeply concerned'
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States was "deeply concerned" for North Korea's citizens and offered "thoughts and prayers" in the wake of Kim's death.
It is the US hope the new North Korean leadership "will choose to guide their nation onto the path of peace by honouring North Koreas commitments, improving relations with its neighbours, and respecting the rights of its people," Mrs Clinton said in a statement yesterday.
President Barack Obama called his close friend President Lee Myung-Bak of South Korea, with officials saying the US president reaffirmed commitment to "the security of our close ally, the Republic of Korea".
China's President Hu Jintao visited the North Korean embassy in Beijing earlier to offer his condolences, the official Xinhua news agency said.
He has called on North Koreans to unite behind their former leader's son and heir.
China is North Korea's closest ally, and just hours after the announcement of Kim's death, Beijing said it would work with Pyongyang to ensure the "peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region".
Analysts say China is likely to strengthen support for its impoverished, nuclear-armed neighbour as it seeks to avoid a potentially destabilising power struggle in Pyongyang.
Little is known about Kim's successor, his third son Kim Jong-Un, but there are fears he has not had enough time to cement control over the country's government and military.
Jong-Un, who is in his late 20s, was given senior ruling party posts and made a four-star general in September 2010, despite his lack of any military experience.
