Kim, Putin exchange greetings on Korea’s Liberation Day

SEOUL, Aug 15, 2019, Yonhap. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged greetings Thursday to mark the 74th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan, Pyongyang’s state media reported, according to the Yonhap.

In their messages, they expressed their desire to further deepen bilateral ties based on the agreement for cooperation reached during their first summit in the Russia’s Far Eastern city of Vladivostok in April, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“(Kim’s message) said that the two peoples have inherited from one century into the next the feelings of comrades-in-arms which was formed in the joint struggle of the grim great anti-Japanese war,” the agency said in an English-language article.

“And that the DPRK people are always remembering the noble internationalist feats of the heroic officers and men of the Red Army who laid down their precious lives for the sacred cause of Korea’s liberation,” it added.

DPRK stands for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Kim also expressed his belief that the bilateral relations that have entered “a new high stage” would steadily expand in several fields, including politics, economy and culture, in the future based on traditions from the countries’ preceding leaders, the KCNA said.

Putin said the relations between Pyongyang and Moscow are “of friendly and constructive character” and that the Vladivostok summit “clearly proves it,” the North’s media said.

“(Putin’s message) expressed the belief that to implement the agreements reached at the summit talks would contribute to further strengthening the bilateral cooperation in several fields and ensuring the stability and security in the Korean Peninsula,” the KCNA reported.