[2017-02-17]









Messages and baskets of flowers
On the occasion of the Day of the Shining Star dedicated to the birthday of Chairman Kim Jong Il, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sent a congratulatory message to Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un who received baskets of flowers from the presidents of Palestine and Laos.
Floral baskets and congratulatory messages also came from foreign organizations, personages, the family of a Chinese anti-Japanese revolutionary martyr and the corps of diplomats and military attachés in Pyongyang.
Visiting foreign dignitaries Ogami Kenichi, secretary general of the International Institute of the Juche Idea, Mukesh Sharma, secretary general of the International Kim Jong Il Prize Council, and Alexander Prokhanov, editor-in-chief of Russia’s Zavtra and director of the above-said council, sent gifts to the Supreme Leader.
A gift from the International Institute of the Juche Idea was conveyed to the Supreme Leader.
Homage
An endless stream of people flowed into the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun where President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il lie in state.
Foreign guests and overseas Koreans paid homage to them at the palace.
Service personnel and people from all walks of life visited the statues and portraits of the great leaders on Pyongyang’s Mansu Hill and elsewhere across the country.
They paid respect to the great leaders, recalling the immortal exploits they had performed while hewing out an untrodden path to usher in a new era of prosperity not seen in the country’s multimillennial history.
Floral baskets were placed at the statue of the Chairman in Samjiyon County, a sacred revolutionary place where he was born.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian President and the family of Zhou Wei, daughter of Chinese Zhou Baozhong who was related to the anti-Japanese revolutionary war, and Jong Il Sim, widow of DPRK Hero An Tong Su, the International Kim Jong Il Prize Council, the Swiss preparatory committee for the 2017 conference in praise of the great persons of Mt Paektu, Jindallae Saphariny, president of the Jindallae Children’s Foundation, and other foreign figures sent baskets of flowers to the statues of the great leaders on Mansu Hill.
Floral tribute was also paid by the secretary general of the International Institute of the Juche Idea, Pyongyang-based economic and trade councillors corps, members of the country offices of UNDP, WFP, WHO and other international organizations, foreign guests and overseas compatriots.
A lively programme of events
All the service personnel and people celebrated the Day of the Shining Star, one of the greatest holidays of the Korean nation.
A meeting was held at Kim Jong Il’s birthplace in the Paektusan Secret Camp on February 13 to vow to hold the Chairman in high esteem for all ages and carry through the cause of the Juche revolution under the leadership of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
Speakers said that Chairman Kim Jong Il, who was born in a primitive forest amid raging blizzards of Mt Paektu and brought up to be a revolutionary, led the Party and revolution along the road of victory for over half a century, thereby performing immortal exploits for the country and history. They hardened their resolve to hasten the victory of the Chairman’s patriotic cause, the cause of building a powerful socialist country, rallied firmly behind Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
Fireworks soared into the sky over the sacred place of the revolution where Kim Jong Il was born. They exploded rocking heaven and earth as if they were an eruption of the pride and dignity of Koreans who annually celebrate the day of the greatest national jubilation, revolutionary holiday, which heralded the rosy future of Juche Korea. The stunning display of fireworks dyed the Jongil Peak in kaleidoscopic colours, unfolding a world of mystery.
The profound yearning and reverence of Koreans for the Chairman were also manifested at the venue of the 21st Kimjongilia Festival which was bedecked with full-blown Kimjongilias and rare flowering plants.
Put on display at the festival which is held on the theme of “Kimjongilia blooming fully to bless the ever-prospering era of Kim Jong Un” are tens of thousands of the immortal flowers cultivated by over 80 units including military organs, ministries and national agencies, service personnel, working people from all walks of life. Similar flower festivals also took place in provinces.
Youth and students gathered at the plaza of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun to pledge themselves to venerate the Chairman as the eternal Sun of Juche and to carry forward the cause of the Juche revolution under the guidance of the Supreme Leader.
Meetings took place in each province, city, county and industrial complex on February 15 in celebration of the 75th birth anniversary of the Chairman.
The central photo exhibition, national calligraphy festival and film week opened.
The annual ice sculpture festival took place in Samjiyon County, Ryanggang Province. The venue of the festival, which was held in the Chairman’s native county to mark his birthday in February, was packed with people from across the country.
The officials and members of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea made a study tour of the revolutionary battle sites in the Mt Paektu area, while schoolchildren and students from across the country toured the Chairman’s birthplace in the Paektusan Secret Camp.
Celebration meetings were held, while art performances were given at theatres in Pyongyang and local areas to add to the festive mood, including performances of working people’s organizations, the art groups of commissions, ministries and national agencies, the Samjiyon County art group and central youth artistic motivational team and a joint song and dance performance of the art troupe of Koreans in Japan.
Schoolchildren joined the Korean Children’s Union with due ceremonies.
The seventh national cookery competition was held to add joy to the people. The Okryu and Chongnyu restaurants and other public service facilities in all parts of the country served special dishes.
The 25th round of the Paektusan Prize international figure skating festival attracted a lot of attention at home and abroad, and a synchronized swimming demonstration ran in a distinctive way.
Korean stamps were put on display and the State Stamp Bureau issued new stamps.
On February 16 students and young people had dance parties throughout the country.
Pyongyang-based military attachés corps visited the National Gifts Exhibition House on February 14, resident diplomatic envoys and representatives of international organizations and foreign embassy officials related to culture and friendship toured the venue of the 21st Kimjongilia Festival and Pyongyang Kim Jong Suk Silk Mill and economic and trade councillors looked round the Ryugyong General Ophthalmic Hospital.
By Jong Sun Bok PT