As we recall the immortal exploits of President Kim Il Sung who made great contributions to the strengthening and development of the socialist movement and the cause of world progressive people for independence, we are looking back once again on the historic days which are recorded in the 75-year history of the friendly and cooperative relations between the DPRK and Vietnam.

68 years back on July 8, 1957, the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung met with Comrade President Ho Chi Minh, the esteemed leader of the Vietnamese people, for the first historic Pyongyang summit during Ho Chi Minh’s visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

In the afternoon of his arrival, a mass rally of 100, 000 Pyongyang citizens was held at Kim Il Sung Square where Comrade President Ho Chi Minh made a speech. He said that fraternal friendship closely links Vietnam and the DPRK despite the geographical distance. He expressed his deep emotion by saying that the brilliant victories achieved by the Korean people instill endless enthusiasm and joy into the Vietnamese people and serve as a great encouragement giving full confidence in victory in their anti-U.S. resistance war for national salvation.

In several meetings with Comrade President Ho Chi Minh, the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung exchanged in-depth views and reached a consensus on issues of strengthening invincible friendship and unity and deepening militant comradeship between the two peoples. He accompanied Comrade President Ho Chi Minh, who visited several places including factories and farms, and elaborated on the successes and experiences gained by the Korean people.

Indeed, the first summit between the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung and Comrade President Ho Chi Minh, esteemed leader of the Vietnamese people, marked a milestone in displaying comradeship and friendship between genuine communist revolutionaries, and represented a historical watershed that laid the eternal cornerstone of developing DPRK-Vietnam friendship and cooperation.

The DPRK-Vietnam relations of friendship and cooperation has stood the test of time. It continues to retain its vitality and is now vigorously advancing to attain a higher level of development.

The Korean people will always set great store by the historic significance of July 1957 associated with the noble exploits of the preceding leaders. They will write a new history of development of bilateral relations together with the Vietnamese people this year, the “Year of Friendship”.

Kim Myong Jin Chairman of Korea-Asia Association