DPRK leader visits Friendship Tower on war anniversary

PYONGYANG -- Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), visited the China-DPRK Friendship Tower here on Wednesday on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of the end of the Korean War.

The official Korean Central News Agency said in a report on Thursday that Kim, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, paid tribute to the martyrs of the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) "who joined the Korean people in the Fatherland Liberation War to repel the imperialists' invasion and dedicated their valuable lives."

The Friendship Tower, a monument dedicated to the CPV who fought in the 1950-1953 Korean War, was erected in 1959.

While paying a visit to the Friendship Tower, Kim said that "remaining fresh in the history of the great victory in the war and in the memory of our people" is the true friendship of the CPV, according to the report.

The Chinese people who aided the Korean people at the cost of their blood when the DPRK was undergoing immense difficulty will always be remembered, Kim said, stressing that the DPRK-China friendship will be firmly carried forward generation after generation.

A wreath in the name of Kim was laid before the tower, with a ribbon reading, "We pay noble respect in the name of all the Korean people. On behalf of the Korean people, Kim Jong-un," the report added.

On Tuesday, veterans of the Korean War gathered here to attend the Seventh National Conference of War Veterans on the occasion of the war's end.