Comrade Kim Jong Un , General Secretary of the Worker's Party of Korea and President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, hosted a banquet to welcome visit by Comrade Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation, on the evening of June 19.

Present there at the invitation were Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Denis Mantrov, First Deputy Prime Minister, Alexandr Nobak, Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitri Peskov, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration and President’s Press Secretary, Yuri Ushakov, Aide to the President of Russia for Foreign Policy, Andrei Beloussov, Minister of Defense, Alexandr Kozlov, Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology and Chairman of the Russian side of the Russia-DPRK Inter-Governmental Committee for Cooperation in Trade, Economy, Science and Technology, Mikhail Murashuko, Minister of Health, Roman Starovoyt, Minister of Transport and other members of the Russian president’s entourage, and Alexandr Matsegora, Russian Ambassador to the DPRK, and staff members of the Russian embassy in Pyongyang.

Also present at the banquet were Kim Tok Hun, Vice-President of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and Premier of the Cabinet, Choe Ryong Hae, First Vice-President of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, Choe Son Hui, Foreign Minister of the DPRK, secretaries of the Central Committee of the WPK and other senior officials of the Party, the government and the military.

When Comrade Kim Jong Un appeared at the banquet hall together with Comrade Putin, all the participants welcomed with enthusiastic applause the top leaders of the two countries who are ushering in a new heyday of the DPRK-Russia friendship by dint of their exceptional wisdom and outstanding leadership.

Comrade Kim Jong Un made a speech of welcome for Comrade Vladimir Putin’s visit to the DPRK.

Warmly welcoming respected President Putin who visited Pyongyang, the capital city of the DPRK, again after 24 years since his last visit at the threshold of a new millennium, and all other Russian friends, he extended his profound respect and warm fraternal greetings to the Russian government and people on behalf of the DPRK government and people.

He expressed his joy of sharing the table with all the participants at the banquet welcoming Comrade Putin, the highest honoured guest of the state for the Korean people, on the historic day when the DPRK-Russia relations of friendship witnessed a great event of concluding the most powerful and comprehensive new inter-state treaty.

Appreciating that the great event witnessed on the day in the development of the DPRK-Russia relations was a brilliant fruition of President Putin’s decision, efforts and meticulous care, he once again expressed his heartfelt thanks to Comrade Putin for fully showing in practice his will to write a new chapter in the history of the DPRK-Russia relations and guarantee the eternal wellbeing for the peoples of the two countries and their bright future for all ages.

Saying that it is the greatest pride and honour for the DPRK to have a powerful state like Russia as a strategic partner and an ally, he clarified the invariable stand of the DPRK government to permanently develop the invincible DPRK-Russia relations of friendship while strongly supporting and closely cooperating with the Russian Federation in a multifaceted, all-round way on the basis of the new inter-state treaty.

He proposed a toast to the good health of respected Comrade Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, to the everlasting prosperity of Russia, the friendliest neighbor of the DPRK, to the immortality of the invincible DPRK-Russia relations of friendship to be envied by the world, and to the health of all comrades and friends present at the banquet.

Comrade Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin made a reply speech.

He once again expressed his sincere thanks to Comrade Kim Jong Un and all other Korean friends for inviting him to pay a state visit to the excellent country of DPRK.

Expressing his deep impression on the friendly banquet arranged in his honour, he said that the talks held on the day reaffirmed the interest of both sides to further develop bilateral cooperation based on equality and mutual benefit.

Noting that despite the vicissitudes of the world situation, the two countries have steadily strengthened the ties of comradely relations, fraternal support and good-neighbourly cooperation on the basis of the glorious traditions established by the preceding generations, he stressed that they are proactively cooperating with each other in the international arena to promote peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the rest of the world, and are taking joint action against the hegemony and neo-colonialist practices of the U.S. and its vassal forces and also against the attempts to force the development model and values upon us, the things that have nothing to do with us.

Citing a saying common to both Russia and the DPRK, which goes that a good neighbour is better than a brother far away, he said that such public wisdom well reflects the character of the relations between the two countries.

Comrade Putin proposed a toast to the further development of friendship and cooperation between the Russian Federation and the DPRK, to the well-being and prosperity of the peoples of the two countries and to the good health of Comrade Kim Jong Un , President of the State Affairs of the DPRK, and the Korean friends present at the banquet.

The banquet proceeded in an amicable atmosphere overflowing with friendly feelings.