Present there on invitation were Choe Thae Bok, chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, Ri Ryong Nam, minister of Foreign Trade who is chairman of the DPRK-Syria Friendship Association, Mun Jae Chol, acting chairman of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, Kim Thae Jong, vice-department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Pak Jae Gyong, vice-minister of the People's Armed Forces, Kim Hyong Jun, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, and officials concerned.

Salah Soukkar in his speech made at the reception said that Kim Il Sung always lives not only in the hearts of the Korean people but of all other people of the world struggling for freedom and independence.

He noted that the friendly relations between Syria and the DPRK provided by Hafez al-Assad and Kim Il Sung are growing stronger under the deep care of President Bashar al-Assad and General Secretary Kim Jong Il.

Many achievements have been made in the development of the bilateral relations under the guidance of the top leaders of the two countries and the Syrian people have struggled to defend the country's sovereignty, consolidate the national independence and achieve the Arab unity, the regional peace and security, he added.

Choe Thae Bok in his speech said that Kim Il Sung is not only the father of socialist Korea but an eternal sun of mankind as he dedicated all his life to the prosperity of the country, the happiness of the people and the cause of global independence, adding that the revolutionary cause of Juche started by the President is being successfully carried forward by Kim Jong Il.

The Korean people are extending invariable support and solidarity to the Syrian people's just cause of the struggle to firmly protect the dignity of the nation, seek a fair and comprehensive settlement of the Middle East problem under the leadership of the Baath Arab Socialist Party, he said, expressing the hope that the friendly Syrian people would register greater success in their efforts to accomplish the cause of achieving country's progress and prosperity.