Kim Jong Il praises concerts of Russian symphony orchestra.

PYONGYANG, May 2 (Itar-Tass) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on
Saturday visited a joint concert of the country's Milky Way symphony
orchestra and the Russian Orchestra of the 21st Century, which is making a
concert tour of North Korea.
The performance tied for May 1, the International Workers Solidary Day
which is broadly marked here, began with the orchestras playing the North
Korean and Russian anthems.
Kim Jong Il thanked the musicians for the successful performance of
works of Korean and Russian composers.
He also met with the artistic director and conductor-in-chief of the
Russian orchestra Pavel Ovsyannikov.
In the leader's words, the Russian orchestra that has performed here
on a number of occasions previously brings sincere joy to the North Korean
audiences and contributes to the promotion of friendly relations between
the two countries.
Along with Kim Jong Il, the concert was attended by Defense Minister
Kim Yong Chun, the Korean Workers' Party secretaries Choi Thae Bok and Kim
Yong Nam, other high-rank state officials, representatives of the Korean
People's Army, labor staffs, and research organizations.
Russian ambassador in Pyongyang, Valery Sukhinin, was noticed among
the attendees.