Present there on invitation were overseas Koreans staying in the socialist homeland.

Also present there were Kim Jung Rin, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Hwang To Sik, director of the Bureau of Service for Koreans in Japan, Kang Ji Yong, director of the Bureau of Service for Overseas Compatriots, and officials concerned.

Kim Jung Rin said in an address made at the reception that the DPRK has demonstrated its dignity and might thanks to the rare ideological and theoretical activities and energetic leadership of Kim Jong Il, who cherished the lofty aim to glorify Korea after being born as the bright star of Mt. Paektu.

He noted that Kim Jong Il's inexhaustible energy and patriotic devotion are encouraging all the army and the people of the DPRK to give free rein to their mental power, adding that they are sure to open the gate to a thriving nation.

Ri Ki Sok, vice-chairman of the Central Standing Committee of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, said in his speech that Kim Jong Il's birth was the greatest fortune that promised the eternal prosperity of the nation, adding that the DPRK could win victory and demonstrate glory through decades and centuries thanks to his birth on Feb. 16.

The speaker called upon overseas Koreans to make tangible contributions to further cementing all overseas compatriots' organizations as patriotic ones, building a thriving nation and accomplishing the cause of national reunification under the uplifted banner of defending socialist homeland.