US Vice President Joseph Biden on Friday paid tribute to Nelson Mandela during his visit to South Korea, saying the former South African president changed the world and the way people see it. Before Biden starting his speech in South Korea's Yonsei University, he asked the audiences to join him to observe a moment of silence to pay tribute to Mandela. "He has wisdom, compassion and courage, and maybe the hardest thing to possess--forgiveness," said Biden, who also sent a written statement to express his condolences during his third and final leg on his week-long trip to Asia. He quoted Mandela's saying: "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination," noting Mandela lifted the nation to freedom. "He is a much better man than me, a much better man than most men and women I met in my whole career. He inspired us, challenged us to do better. He was a good man," said Biden, adding that the world with a great change now needs more women and men like Mandela. Nelson Mandela passed away peacefully on Thursday night in Johannesburg at the age of 95. The world-revered statesman spent 27 years in prison fighting against apartheid and led South Africa to a multi-racial democracy.