Saying that Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, is the leader of the people as he dedicates all his life to them, the statement stressed that he always attaches top priority to the people's interests and shares bitters and sweets with the people, finding himself among them.

He has visited every nook and corner of the country, including factories and farms, without having rest even in red-letter days and holidays to improve the standard of people's living while indicating the orientation and ways to bring about a productive surge in all fields of the national economy, the statement noted.

It recalled that he formulated as the three charters for Korea's reunification the three principles of national reunification, the 10-point programme of the great unity of the whole nation and the proposal for founding the Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo advanced by President Kim Il Sung and that the historic June 15 North-South Joint Declaration and the October 4 declaration were adopted thanks to his experienced and tested leadership.