N Korea marks 64th anniversary of liberation from Japan

PYONGYANG, August 15 (Itar-Tass) - North Korea on Saturday marks the
64th anniversary of Korea's liberation from the Japanese colonial rule. In
the morning, staff members of the Russian embassy and representatives of
foreign diplomatic missions accredited in Pyongyang laid flowers at the
Liberation Monument in the city's Moran-bong Park. This monument was built
in honour of Soviet soldiers who sacrificed their lives in August 1945 for
the freedom of the Korean people.
Local residents also went to other monuments on Saturday in order to
express their gratitude - laying wreaths and flowers at the giant statue
of the country's first head Kim Il-Sung and numerous mosaics depicting the
face of the "great leader." In the national historiography it is Kim
Il-Sung and his "Korean People's Revolutionary Army" that liberated the
country from Japanese. The Soviet participation in these events is
practically not mentioned here.
At the same time, the republic's central newspaper Rodong Shinmun on
Saturday published on the first page congratulatory telegrams exchanged
between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and North Korean Leader Kim
Jong-Il on this occasion. The North Korean leader in his brief message
expressed confidence that relations between Moscow and Pyongyang "will
develop in the interests of the peoples of the two countries."
-0-ezh