July 25 marks the 55 th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Syrian Arab Republic.

The DPRK-Syria friendship has been continuously consolidated and developed in the course of common struggle for defending sovereignty of the country and prestige of the nation, standing together against imperialism and dominationism. And this history of friendship is deeply associated with the immortal feats of great President Kim Il Sung , Chairman Kim Jong Il and respected Comrade Kim Jong Un .

Possessed with truly international mind of obligation, great President Kim Il Sung unreservedly supported and encouraged the Syrian people’s struggle for national liberation and building of a new society, and during the period of Fourth Middle East War in October 1973, dispatched heroic pilots of the Korean People’s Army to the Syrian fronts to help at the cost of blood the Syrian people’s righteous fight against imperialism and Zionism.

When H.E. Hafez Al-Assad, President of the Syrian Arab Republic, met with great President Kim Il Sung during his visit to the DPRK in September 1974, he said that he most admires H.E. President Kim Il Sung who had sent pilots when the Syria was in the difficult time, and he repeatedly affirmed that in the future he would follow any instruction of President Kim Il Sung without consideration.

Chairman Kim Jong Il always paid deep attention to the improvement of friendly relations with Syria – the relations associated with the immortal leadership feats of great President Kim Il Sung .

When President Hafez Al-Assad, who had boundlessly admired great President Kim Il Sung , suddenly passed away due to illness in June 2000, Chairman Kim Jong Il felt so sad that he took immediate measure to send the then Minister of People’s Armed Forces of the DPRK to his funeral even though it was the busy time on the eve of the inter-Korean summit. And after the summit, he again sent a Party and government delegation headed by the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly to share the sorrow of the Syrian people who were in the national mourning.

Touched by the immeasurably noble mind of obligation shown by Chairman Kim Jong Il , Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad expressed his excited feeling at the meeting with the Party and government delegation of the DPRK, saying that just like his father who had formed special relations with H.E. President Kim Il Sung and carried on the faithful politics, he would remain faithful to the relationship with the DPRK to the last.

The friendly DPRK-Syria relations, which started and bloomed thanks to the dedication of President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il , are today further strengthened and developed onto a higher stage under the wise leadership of Comrade Kim Jong Un , President of the State Affairs of the DPRK.

In July 2013, Comrade Kim Jong Un personally met with the delegates of the Syrian Arab Republic headed by the Deputy General Secretary of the Arab Baath Socialist Party who were participating in the celebrations of the 60 th anniversary of the victory in the great Fatherland Liberation War. And he has annually sent encouraging congratulatory messages to President Bashar Al-Assad on such major occasions as the Day of Revolution and Independence Day of Syria.

Our people have experienced through real life that the Syrian people are reliable comrades and brothers who never abandon principles and obligations even under difficult and complicated circumstances, and we are proud of having such close friends as the Syrian people in Middle East.

The comradely and brotherly relations of friendship between the DPRK and Syria which are associated with the immortal feats and dedication by President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il , will be steadily carried on through centuries and decades under the wise leadership of respected Comrade Kim Jong Un , and we will exert all our efforts to continuously strengthen and develop the traditional relations of friendship and cooperation with Syria.

Yang Myong Song, Secretary General of Korea-Arab Association