Kim Jong Il sends telegram to Russian pres over liberation day

PYONGUANG, August 15 (Itar-Tass) - Chairman of the National Defence
Commission of DPRK Kim Jong Il on Monday sent a telegram to Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev in connection with the 66th anniversary of
liberation of Korea from Japanese rule, the Korean Central News Agency
(KCNA) reported.
It said the North Korean leader had expressed confidence that
"relations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and
the Russian Federation will develop in accordance with common interests
and wishes of the peoples of the two countries".
A ceremony of laying wreaths to the monument to Soviet soldiers in
Pyongyang was held in connection with that date. The inscription on the
monument reads "Eternal glory to the great Soviet Army that liberated the
Korean people from the yoke of Japanese militarists and opened to them a
road to freedom and independence".
Korean military officials, representatives from the Foreign Ministry,
foreign diplomatic missions, military attaches, Russian Ambassador to
Pyongyang Valery Sukhinin as well as staffers from Russian offices took
part in the ceremony. After the ceremony, its participants laid flowers at
the cemetery where Russian soldiers and Soviet citizens are buried.
Yegorievsk Archbishop Mark, who heads the Administration for Moscow
Patriarchate's Institutions Abroad, held a memorial service. Archbishop
Mark is in Pyongyang at the head of a delegation of the Russian Orthodox
Church.