CANBERRA - Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said here on Monday world countries and leaders should maintain calm and restraint over the news of Kim Jong-il's death.

Rudd said the news of death does not come as a surprise but at the moment "all analysts on North Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) are handicapped by what we don't know."

Rudd said he has spoken with the ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK) not long before and the Australian government will keep close contacts with allies in the region.

"We need to wait to see the new shape of the North Korean leadership," he said.

Rudd said we are at a critical junction in history and an opportunity for the DPRK of leadership and to engage with the rest of the world.