This year marks the 49th anniversary of the historic meeting between President Kim Il Sung of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Hafez Al-Assad, president of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Kim Il Sung warmly welcomed the envoys of the Syrian people who visited the DPRK with warm feelings of friendship towards the Korean people at a mass rally in Pyongyang to welcome the party and government delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic led by Hafez Al-Assad on October 1, Juche 63 (1974).

In his speech he expressed firm solidarity with the Syrian people in their struggle against imperialism and Zionism and for the independent development and territorial integrity of their country under the leadership of Hafez Al-Assad, and inspired the Syrian and other Arab peoples with the conviction of victory that they would defeat any enemy if they turned out in the just cause in firm unity.

He established personal relations with Hafez Al-Assad and created a new history and tradition of friendship between the two countries on the road for rejecting foreign intervention and aspiring to independent development.

Chairman Kim Jong Il made a great contribution to developing the friendly relations between the DPRK and Syria, true to the cause of Kim Il Sung .

The friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries provided and developed by Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il together with Hafez Al-Assad are being invariably strengthened and developed under the deep concern of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un , general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, and President Bashar Al-Assad of the Syrian Arab Republic along with the passage of time, even in the face of complicated international situation.

A street in Damascus, the capital of Syria, was renamed after Kim Il Sung on the occasion of his 90th birth anniversary (April 15, 2002). And Kim Il Sung Park was newly built in the street and a monument to Kim Il Sung Street erected there on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation.

Kim Jong Un exchanges congratulatory messages with Bashar Al-Assad on the Day of the Sun (April 15), the Day of the Shining Star (February 16), the Day of the March 8 Revolution in Syria and other major occasions of the two countries.

In his congratulatory messages he extended full support to the Syrian government and people in their struggle to defend the sovereignty of the country and its territorial integrity.

A Syrian party and government delegation led by the deputy regional secretary of the Baath Arab Socialist Party attended the celebrations of the 70th founding anniversary of the DPRK in September Juche 107 (2018). Visits, contacts and exchanges have been conducted briskly between the party, government and parliaments of the two countries.

In particular, a delegation of the People’s Assembly of the Syrian Arab Republic led by its vice-chairman visited the DPRK at the invitation of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK in October Juche 107 (2018). Friendship parliamentary groups have been organized in the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK and the Parliament of Syria to promote the development of the friendly and cooperative relations through the exchange of opinions and cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries.

The Syrian government and people invariably render active support and encouragement to the important measures and reasonable stand taken by the DPRK government in the UN, non-aligned movement and other international arenas, and to the Korean people in their cause for socialist construction and national reunification.

Today, the Syrian party, government and people express their admiration at the fact that the Korean people are registering fresh achievements in their struggle to remarkably bolster up the military capability for self-defence and achieve comprehensive development of socialist construction under the leadership of Kim Jong Un , even in the face of the hostile forces’ ever-increasing machinations to isolate and stifle their country, and keep deepening the bond of friendship with them.

The DPRK government and people are sincerely rejoicing over the great successes being made by the Syrian government and people in their struggle to defend the sovereignty and security of the country under the leadership of Bashar Al-Assad.

In particular, they denounce the US and Israel for their anti-Syria moves, military attacks, inhumane crimes and terrorist acts by anti-government forces, and actively support the righteous struggle of the Syrian government and people in international arenas.

The Korean people are convinced that the Syrian people, under the leadership of Bashar Al-Assad, would overcome all the challenges and difficulties, defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and surely build prosperous Syria.

It is the unshakable will of the WPK and the people of the DPRK to steadily consolidate and develop the traditional relations of friendship and cooperation with Syria.

The friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries in the same trench of anti-imperialist, anti-US joint struggle will invariably grow stronger in the common struggle of the peoples of the two countries for defending the sovereignty of the countries and achieve their independent development in the future, too.

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