North Korea’s Kim lauds ‘longest-ruling party’ on anniversary with Russian envoy as guest
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Kim Ju Ae (in grey jacket) at a celebration to mark the 79th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea on Oct 10.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PYONGYANG – North Korea marked a founding anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party with a celebratory concert and banquet, and leader Kim Jong Un called for renewed training of all workers into revolutionaries espousing communism, state media said on Oct 11.
The events on the 79th anniversary a day earlier were relatively low-key affairs compared with some years in the past, when North Korea held large military parades showcasing its latest weaponry and with visits by high-ranking Chinese officials.
Mr Kim lauded the Workers’ Party of Korea as the longest-ruling party in the world, and one which overcame unprecedented hardship to devote all its strength to building a powerful nation that has thwarted threats from outside forces.
In a lengthy commemorative message published in the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, he said North Korea faces challenges both from within and outside, and said the party must take the lead in achieving a revolutionary communist victory.
“Workers must train themselves ideologically and cultivate party discipline in the midst of an inferno of criticism and struggle,” he said.
“The success of the work of growing workers into true communist revolutionaries who espouse the founding ideology and spirit depends largely on the role of the party organisation.”
Mr Kim attended a performance at the party’s Central Cadres Training School and a banquet that was filled with the “joy of the participants greeting the significant day marking the ruling history of 79 years”, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
A state media photograph showed Mr Kim arriving at the banquet with his daughter, with a Russian Aurus limousine in the backdrop, likely one of the cars that Russian President Vladimir Putin had given Mr Kim as gifts.
Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora was mentioned prominently as a guest of Mr Kim, highlighting the dramatically elevated ties between the two countries.
Official media made no mention of Chinese attendance. On Oct 10, KCNA published a short dispatch that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China had sent a floral basket. REUTERS
