On display in the venues of the meetings were photos showing the proud history of the DPRK in which it has traversed the road of victory and glory under the leadership of President Kim Il Sung and general secretary Kim Jong Il.

Present there were personages of various circles and masses in the relevant countries.

Tong Yeu Tho, chairperson of the Laos-Korea Friendship Association, said the Korean people have maintained the principle of independence in politics, self-support in the economy and self-reliance in national defence under the uplifted banner of the Juche idea.

The traits of attaching importance to military affairs prevail in whole society and all-people defence system has been established in the DPRK, which exerts primary efforts for increasing its military power, the chairperson noted, adding the DPRK has turned into a military power which no formidable enemy dares provoke.

Constantin Rotaru, chairman of the Romanian Socialist Union, said Generalissimo Kim Jong Il, who carried forward the revolutionary cause of Generalissimo Kim Il Sung, frustrated all moves of the imperialists with his original Songun politics and provided an eternal foundation for prosperity.

The secretary general of the France-Korea Friendship Association, said the founding of the DPRK marked a great event in the 20th century as it demonstrated the will of the Korean people to build an independent sovereign state though they had been subject to aggression and plunder by powers in the past.

The progressive people are expressing firm solidarity with the Korean people who are dynamically pushing ahead with the building of an economic power while firmly ensuring peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and foiling the arbitrary and high-handed practices of the U.S. with their strong capabilities for national defence, the secretary general stressed.