Kim Jong Un Makes Speech at Banquet

Pyongyang, March 28 (KCNA) -- The respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un made a speech at the banquet hosted by Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People. Kim Jong Un said that he made a lightning visit to the People's Republic of China with the sole thought of invariably maintaining the old historical tradition of DPRK-China friendship, to live up to the revolutionary obligation and to creditably carry forward and develop the relations between the DPRK and PRC generation after generation under the new situation created on the Korean peninsula. The Supreme Leader expressed his heartfelt gratitude to respected General Secretary Xi Jinping and Mrs. Peng Liyuan for sparing their time and according warm and cordial hospitality just as they would do their own brothers and sisters, though busy with party and state affairs. Kim Jong Un said that he was deeply moved by the sincerity and deep consideration shown by General Secretary Xi Jinping and leading officials of the party and state of China so that the successful visit would be made in a short period after gladly accepting the proposal for the visit, and noted that he was very thankful for it. Kim Jong Un warmly congratulated General Secretary Xi Jinping for having been elected as president of the People's Republic of China and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the PRC after the successful conclusion of "two meetings" following the grand 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China. It is quite natural that his first foreign trip is destined for the capital of China, he noted, adding this means that the DPRK-China friendship is his noble obligation which has to be valued as his own life and be carried forward generation after generation. The peoples of Korea and China who have closely supported and cooperated while sharing their blood and life in the protracted joint struggle have realized in their life experience that their destinies are inseparable and how valuable the regional peaceful environment and stability are for the two countries, fraternal neighbors who are linked by the same river, and how costly it is to win and defend them, he added. He noted that he had an in-depth exchanges of important ideas including the improvement of the DPRK-China friendship and the issue of controlling the situation on the Korean peninsula and confirmed shared will to consolidate the socialist systems in the two countries of the DPRK and PRC and to provide the two peoples with happiness and future. He added: It is the unshakable stand of the Workers' Party of Korea and the government of the DPRK to strengthen and develop onto a new stage the DPRK-China friendship which was forged in the noble common struggle for the socialist cause and which has maintained its originality despite all tempests of history, true to the noble intention of the leaders of the preceding generations. The WPK and people of the DPRK are rejoiced as over their own over the fact that the Chinese people have registered dazzling achievements in the cause of building a modern and powerful socialist country in the new era and the international prestige of China is growing over time under the guidance of the Communist Party of China with General Secretary Xi Jinping at the core. Kim Jong Un sincerely hoped that the Chinese people would brilliantly carry out the tasks set forth by the 19th Congress of the CPC and achieve great prosperity of the PRC under the guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping. -0-