WASHINGTON -- The US State Department on Wednesday expressed its condolences for the recent death of former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo.

"We send our deepest condolences to the people of the Republic of Korea (ROK) for the passing of former President Roh Tae-Woo," the department said in a released statement, referring to South Korea by its official name.

"While former President Roh leaves a complicated legacy, his tenure included solidification of the ROK's democratic tradition, its entry into the United Nations, and a strong commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," it added.

South Korea became a UN member in 1991 under Roh's leadership.

"For over 70 years, the US-ROK Alliance has continued strive toward our shared commitments of strengthening the rules-based international order and multilateral institutions, and promoting peace, security, and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, the Indo-Pacific, and beyond," the department statement said.

Roh died Tuesday (Seoul time) at the age of 88.

The former South Korean leader is the first person to be elected the president in a direct vote, but he had been widely criticized for his role in a 1979 coup that helped his predecessor Chun Doo-hwan seize power.

In 1996, both Roh and Chun were convicted of corruption and mutiny for their role in the 1979 military coup, as well as their role in the brutal crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy movement in the southwestern city of Gwangju. (Yonhap)