opinion

The Korean and Russian peoples forged a bond of affection between comrades-in-arms in the great war against the Japanese imperialist aggressors and strengthened it decade after decade. In the course of this, the Korean-Russian friendship took firm root with its historic tradition being established.

It is the demand and will of the governments and peoples of the DPRK and the Russian Federation to steadily expand and develop the bilateral friendly and cooperative relations.

The DPRK-Russia Joint Declaration adopted on July 19 2000 is a historic document which set up a milestone in the development of the bilateral friendship in the new century.

At the turn of the new century, there were an important meeting and talks between Chairman Kim Jong Il and President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin in Pyongyang where the joint declaration was adopted.

The historic Pyongyang meeting and the adoption of the joint declaration laid a foundation for developing the bilateral friendly and cooperative ties in an all-round way as required by the new era.

The joint declaration confirmed that to further promote bilateral cooperation and close mutual collaboration conforms to the fundamental interests of the peoples of the two countries and the trend toward a multipolar world and a new fair and rational international order based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and equally beneficial cooperation.

It served as an important milestone in boosting the traditional DPRK-Russia friendship in line with the requirements of the new era.

After its adoption, the bilateral friendly and cooperative ties witnessed a steady development.

The Chairman, paying close attention to strengthening and developing the friendship on the basis of the DPRK-Russia Joint Declaration, visited the Russian Federation several times.

In August 2001, he paid an official visit to Russia, met President Putin again and signed the DPRK-Russia Moscow Declaration. It provided another powerful driving force for achieving peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world and the prosperity and equally beneficial cooperation of the two countries.

In recent years, the DPRK-Russia friendship, which has been cemented from one century to the next and generation after generation, has attained a new heyday.

The two countries have unprecedentedly promoted their strategic and tactical cooperation, injecting great vitality in the struggle of their peoples to build powerful states and realize international justice.