North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has encouraged the history of North Korea’s ruling party as a great one in a speech prior to the 80th anniversary of its founding, while Chinese, Russian, and Vietnamese delegations arrived in Pyongyang for celebrations.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, a Russian delegation headed by former President Dmitry Medvedev, and Vietnam’s Communist Party leader To Lam are some of the foreign leaders attending events to commemorate the anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea in the reclusive country this week.
Li, who was given a guard of honour at Pyongyang airport, stated that China and North Korea “as socialist neighbours bound by mountains and rivers had a deep traditional friendship,” China’s foreign ministry stated in a statement.
Vietnam’s top leader, Lam, and his delegation attended a welcome ceremony at a Pyongyang sports centre, the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported. It is the first visit by a Vietnamese Communist Party leader to North Korea in nearly 20 years, and cooperation agreements are expected to be signed during the visit, according to people familiar with the planning.
Medvedev, the new deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, is traveling with a group that comprises Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov and the Kursk region governor, Russia’s TASS news agency said.
In the course of the Russian delegation’s trip to North Korea, the two governments signed a joint statement in which Pyongyang showed full solidarity with Moscow’s action in Ukraine, and Russia thanked North Korea for providing aid to the Kursk region.
Kim made an appearance at the Party Founding Museum in Pyongyang on 8th October with high-ranking party officials and gave what state media described as a “heavy speech” paying tribute to the party’s founders and revolutionary predecessors, North Korean state media KCNA reported.
The North Korean leader honored his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung and anti-Japanese guerrilla fighters for establishing a “firm cornerstone” for the party’s longevity and prowess, the report added.
Looking back at the eight decades of party history, Kim stated it was a moment for the younger generation to reaffirm its comprehension of its “revolutionary obligations and duties” to finish the socialist cause initiated by their predecessors.
Kim also vowed to uphold the party’s ideological purity and vitality “without decrepitude and discoloration,” referring to the Party Founding Museum as a “sacred sanctuary” that embodies the party’s tradition.
The North Korean leader last month stood shoulder to shoulder with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a grand military parade in Beijing to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan’s defeat at the close of World War II, a move to consolidate Kim’s diplomatic position.
The nuclear-armed North Korea has yet to announce if it will hold a military parade to celebrate this week’s holiday.
The South Korean government stated that there had been indications that Pyongyang would hold a to mark the Workers’ Party of Korea’s founding anniversary, reported the Yonhap news agency last week.
