Pyongyang, September 27 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, received a letter of thanks from Choummaly Sayasone, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and president of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, on Sept. 24.

The letter said:

Dear Comrade Kim Jong Il,

I and the high-level party and state delegation of the LPDR returned home safely after winding up the visit to the DPRK, the motherland of the great leader President Kim Il Sung and the beautiful country for the fraternal Korean people, from Sept. 21 to 23 of 2011.

I, availing myself of this opportunity, extend sincere appreciation and thanks to you Comrade Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the WPK, chairman of the DPRK NDC and the great leader of the fraternal Korean people, for according family-like cordial hospitality overflowing with friendship to me and our delegation as close, sincere, comradely and fraternal friends with a common ideal in the whole period of our visit to the DPRK.

We very highly estimate the success achieved in our visit to your country which was of particularly important significance and we are convinced that the recent successful visit will make an important contribution to steadily boosting the traditional friendly relations between the parties, states and peoples of Laos and the DPRK and bringing them into fuller bloom.

It is my hope that the fraternal people of the DPRK will continue registering greater new successes in the efforts to build and protect a thriving socialist nation and in their cause of achieving national reunification on the principles of independence, peace and great national unity under the wise leadership of the WPK headed by you.

I wish you good health and happiness and hope the traditional relations of friendship and cooperation between the parties, states and peoples of the two countries will always grow stronger.