July 25 marks the 58 th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Syrian Arab Republic.

Korea-Syria friendship, with a history that stretches back 58 years, has continued to strengthen and develop through joint struggle to defend the national sovereignty and dignity against the outrageous aggression, challenges and arbitrariness of the imperialists.

President Kim Il Sung , who provided full support to the Syrian people in their struggle for national liberation and building a new society, dispatched the brave pilots of the Korean People’s Army to the fronts of Syria in October 1973, when the 4 th Middle East War was at the height, to render support at the cost of blood to the Syrian people in their righteous struggle against imperialism and Zionism.

Hafez Al-Assad, the President of Syria, during his visit to our country from the end of Sep. to the beginning of Oct. in 1974, met with President Kim Il Sung and expressed his heartfelt gratitude, saying that he respects the most President Kim Il Sung who sent the pilots when Syria was pressed for need.

Chairman Kim Jong Il always paid deep attention to the development of friendship with Syria marked with immortal feats of President Kim Il Sung . In June 2000 when President Hafez Al-Assad, who greatly admired President Kim Il Sung , unexpectedly passed away from the disease, he felt so sad that he took the urgent measure to send the then Minister of People’s Armed Forces of the DPRK to his funeral, and afterwards, he dispatched another Party and government delegation headed by the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly to share sorrow with the Syrian people.

The former President Hafez Al-Assad always stressed that Syria should prioritize the development of relations with Korea and further strengthen it to a strategic one regardless of what others might say. The current President Bashar Al-Assad has remained true to this policy of his predecessor.

President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il devoted themselves to cultivating the friendly relations between Korea and Syria. The friendship is now being elevated onto a higher level under the wise leadership of Comrade Kim Jong Un , President of the State Affairs of the DPRK.

In July 2013, at a time when many foreign high-level delegations were visiting our country to take part in the commemorative event in celebration of the 60 th anniversary of victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, Comrade Kim Jong Un first met with the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic headed by the Deputy General Secretary of the Baath Arab Socialist Party and expressed absolute support and solidarity to the Syrian government and people who are fighting dauntlessly against the aggression, threats and challenges of the hostile forces.

Indeed, even in the face of the complicated international situation, the Korea-Syria friendship has invariably been strengthened and developed along the road of independence against imperialism without the slightest change or deviation and has clearly demonstrated its solidity and invincibility before the world.

We regard it as the greatest pride to have such reliable comrade-in-arms and brother in the Middle East as the Syrian people, and we will as ever continue to share weal and woe with them in the same trench of struggle against imperialism and the U.S.

Kim Myong Guk

Secretary General of Korea-Arab Association