Pyongyang, June 20 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, on the evening of June 19 hosted a banquet in honour of the visiting president of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

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

Also on hand 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, Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, secretaries of the Central Committee of the WPK and other senior officials of the Party, the government and the military.

When Kim Jong Un appeared at the banquet hall together with 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.

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

Warmly welcoming President Putin, who visited Pyongyang, the capital city of the DPRK, again as he had done 24 years previously on 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 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 effective and comprehensive new inter-state treaty.

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

Saying that it is a source of 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 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 the respected Comrade Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, to the everlasting prosperity of Russia, which is the DPRK’s most friendly neighbour, 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.

Then Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin spoke in reply.

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 DPRK.

Noting that he was deeply impressed by the warm hospitality shown in arranging a banquet in his honour, he said that today’s talks reaffirmed that both sides are paying concern to further developing 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 provided 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 taking joint action against the hegemony and neo-colonialist practices of the US and its vassal forces and against the attempts to impose the development model and values that have nothing to do with the two countries.

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

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. -0-