Seoul/Pyongyang: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged greetings on Thursday to mark the 74th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan, Pyongyang’s state media reported.
In their messages, they expressed their desire to further deepen bilateral ties based on the agreement for cooperation reached during their first summit in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok in April, Yonhap News Agency quoted North Korean state-run KCNA as saying.
“(Kim’s message) said that the two peoples have inherited from one century into the next the feelings of comrades-in-arms which was formed in the joint struggle of the grim great anti-Japanese war,” the news agency said.
“And that the (North Korean) people are always remembering the noble internationalist feats of the heroic officers and men of the Red Army who laid down their precious lives for the sacred cause of Korea’s liberation,” it added.
Kim also expressed his belief that the bilateral relations that have entered “a new high stage” would steadily expand in several fields, including politics, economy and culture, in the future based on traditions from the countries’ preceding leaders, the KCNA said.
Putin said the relations between Pyongyang and Moscow were “of friendly and constructive character” and that the Vladivostok summit “clearly proves it”, the North’s media said.
“(Putin’s message) expressed the belief that to implement the agreements reached at the summit talks would contribute to further strengthening the bilateral cooperation in several fields and ensuring the stability and security in the Korean Peninsula,” the KCNA reported.
Liberation Day marks the end of the Japanese colonial era (1910-1945) with the surrender of Japan in World War II.
Both South and North Korea will hold commemorative events on Thursday.
In Japan, as every year, the fallen will be honoured in a memorial organized in Tokyo in which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Emperor Naruhito will participate.
