May 14 this year is the day that marks the 33rd anniversary of President Kim Il Sung ’s meeting with Seyed Ali Khamenei, the then president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who paid a visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The history of the friendly and cooperative relations between the DPRK and Iran spanning nearly half a century is replete with the immortal exploits President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il achieved in the development of the bilateral relations.

The President warmly greeted Seyed Ali Khamenei of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a friendly mission and friend on the latter’s visit to his country from May 14 to 17, Juche 78 (1989), and exchanged views on strengthening and developing bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation and issues of common concern, reaching complete agreement.

During his visit to the DPRK, a joint communiqué on developing bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation was made public, and a plan of exchanges of science, technology and culture concluded between the governments of the two countries.

The historic meeting between Kim Il Sung and Khamenei marked a significant occasion in developing the bilateral friendly and cooperative relations on a new stage and building a new independent Asia.

Later, Kim Il Sung met many high-ranking figures and delegations from Iran, and talked with them on developing bilateral relations, and left remarkable traces in the history of the friendly relations between his country and Iran by supporting the Iranian people’s building of a new society materially and morally.

Paying special attention to the development of relations with Iran, Chairman Kim Jong Il energetically led the Korean people to be always with the people of Iran in the struggle for strengthening the Non-Aligned Movement and the forces of independence against imperialism, and rendered immortal services to the friendly and cooperative relations with Iran by supporting its people’s struggle to defend the sovereignty and dignity of the country and regional peace and stability from all sorts of threat of aggression by the hostile forces.

Today the friendly and cooperative relations between the DPRK and Iran provided by Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are further expanding and developing in different sectors under the leadership of Kim Jong Un , president of the State Affairs of the DPRK.

In recent years, exchanges of high-level delegations between the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK and the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran have made contributions to consolidating and developing the traditional friendly ties between the two countries.

The conclusion of a MOU on the exchange and cooperation between the friendship groups organized in the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK and the parliament of Iran laid a favourable condition for further intensifying unity and cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries.

Under the banner of independence against imperialism, both countries are co-operating with each other closely on the international arena including UN and the non-aligned movement against aggression, interference, arbitrariness and inequality imposed by the imperialists in order to realize the cause of global independence, strongly demonstrating the tradition of friendship and solidarity.

The Korean people regard as their own the successes the Iranian government and people are achieving in the struggle to safeguard the sovereignty and dignity of their country and regional peace against all sorts of threat of aggression and moves of sanctions and pressure by the US and other hostile forces.

A saying has it that even a thousand miles seem only a hailing distance to bosom friends.

Though the DPRK and Iran is far away geographically, both countries will always stand together in the struggle for independence against imperialism, and the history of the relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries provided by President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il will go down in keeping with the aspirations and demands of the peoples of two countries.

Kim Sung Chan, chairman of the DPRK-Iran Friendship Parliamentary Group of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK