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Kim Jong Il Celebrates Liberation Day in Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a telegram of congratulations to DPRK leader Kim Jong Il who celebrated his nation's main holiday while on a long train trip home across Russia, officials said Wednesday.
Putin congratulated Kim on DPRK's Liberation Day and said that their talks in Moscow earlier this month have given a "powerful impetus" to the development of bilateral ties.
The cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang "answers the interests of both nations and helps to strengthen peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia," said the statement released by the Kremlin.
Kim answered with a quick telegram of recognition, saying that his summit with Putin was "an epochal event" in bringing bilateral relations to a new level, North Korea's official news agency reported Wednesday.
Putin's envoy to the Russian Far East, Konstantin Pulikovsky, who is accompanying Kim during his trip, described the North Korean leader as a "cheerful and sociable" behind an official image in an interview published Wednesday in the business daily Kommersant.
"It seemed to me that Kim Jong Il is more progressive than his entourage," Pulikovsky said. "Yes, he heads an unusual state, but he's doing a lot to change its image to open North Korea to the rest of the world."
He said Kim distracts himself during the long travel by roaming the Internet, listening to music and watching movies. He also loves singing Russian songs, Pulikovsky added.
Kim, who made a brief stopover Wednesday in the city of Chita in southern Siberia, and is now heading Khabarovsk, invited local Russian officials to his Japanese-made train to celebrate the holiday, which marks the end of the Japanese occupation of his country in 1945.
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