N.K leader thanks foreign heads for congratulating nation's anniversary

By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il thanked the U.N. chief
and the heads of various nations who congratulated him on his country's 61st
founding anniversary last month, the North's media said Thursday.
Kim's appreciation was delivered through telegrams to leaders and top officials
of China, Lebanon, Cuba and some 60 other countries and agencies, including U.N.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, according to a Korea Central Broadcasting Station
report monitored in Seoul.
The North Korean broadcaster reported Wednesday that the U.N. chief, a former
South Korean foreign minister, and other heads of state congratulated Kim on the
country's anniversary that fell on Sept. 9. Neither of the reports gave the date
for when the messages were received or sent out.
North Korea's governing Workers' Party also celebrates its 61st founding
anniversary on Saturday.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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