This year marks the 49 th anniversary of the official goodwill visit by President Kim Il Sung to the Democratic People’s Republic of Algeria.

On this historic occasion, the two peoples of the DPRK and Algeria look back with deep emotion on the immortal exploits of President Kim Il Sung who visited the far-off African continent cherishing the ideals of independence, peace and friendship to unfold a new history of noble internationalist obligation and to provide solid foundations for the friendly relations between the two countries.

President Kim Il Sung rendered both material and moral support to the Algerian people in their struggle to build a new society, regarding the friendly relations between the DPRK and Algeria as the friendship forged between genuine revolutionary comrades in the arduous struggle against the imperialist aggressors.

As he arrived in Algeria on 26 May 1975, President Kim Il Sung participated in several events including Algiers City mass meeting welcoming the party and government delegation of the DPRK. On those occasions, he commended Algerian people, who launched the first armed struggle against colonialists in Africa, for leading the struggle to build a new society with great revolutionary enthusiasm.

He introduced in detail the successes achieved by the Korean people in the revolution and construction as well as valuable experiences including of how we trained our own national cadres in the country which had been under the colonial rule of imperialists. He also elucidated the issues for strengthening the friendly relations between two countries on the road of independence against imperialism.

Houari Boumediene, Chairman of the Algerian Revolutionary Council praised President Kim Il Sung as the outstanding statesman carrying forward the cause of independence against imperialism. He said that the President’s visit to Algeria marked an important milestone in bilateral relations and that the DPRK and Algeria are close to each other with common goals despite their geographical distance.

The organ of the Algerian government El Moudjahid stressed that his visit was a springboard for further consolidating the solidarity between the two countries, highly praising him for being the “great champion in the people’s struggle for freedom and dignity” under the headlines of “Solid Ties between the Two Revolutions”, “Similarities of the Two Revolutions” and “Solidarity Strengthened”.

The traditional friendship between the DPRK and Algeria forged by the preceding leaders are today strengthened and developing under the ideals of independence against imperialism and non-alignment, and cooperation and exchanges in different fields are taking place in conformity with the demands and interests of the two peoples.

We set great store by the long-standing relations of friendship and cooperation with Algeria and remain fully committed to expanding and promoting them across various sectors.

Sok Ri Hak

Member of Korea-Arab Association