calendar>>March 13. 2012 Juch 101
Joint Memorial Service for Korean Victims of Great Quake in East Japan Held
Pyongyang, March 13 (KCNA) -- A joint memorial service for Koreans killed by the great quake in East Japan took place in Japan on Sunday on the occasion of its first anniversary.

Present there were Pak Ku Ho, vice-chairman of the Central Standing Committee of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) and concurrently chairman of its Rights and Welfare Committee, leading officials of the Korean Federation of Workers in Commerce in Japan, the Korean Youth League in Japan, the Korean Democratic Women's Union in Japan, the Korean Youth Commercial Association in Japan, the Union of Korean Teachers and School Clerks in Japan, the Union of Korean Central Educational Association in Japan and the Kumgang Insurance Company, chairpersons of Chongryon headquarters in Kanto and Tohoku regions and Miyagi, Fukushima, Iwate and Ibaragi prefectures, the afflicted areas, bereaved families, overseas Koreans and Koreans in Japan.

The participants observed a moment's silence to the memory of the Korean victims.

A memorial address sent by the DPRK Committee for Overseas Koreans was read out there.

Ri Yong Sik, chairman of the Miyagi Prefectural Headquarters of Chongryon, in his memorial address recalled that Koreans in Japan lost their lives and suffered indescribable disasters due to the greatest quake and tsunami in the Japanese history and the accident in the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

The relief fund sent by leader Kim Jong Il at that time served as life-saving water encouraging the afflicted Chongryon organization and Koreans in Japan in the drive for rehabilitation and resurrection, he said, adding:

Chongryon and Koreans in Japan will never forget the loving care shown by Kim Jong Il to protect them.

Its participants paid floral tribute to the dead Koreans.

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