Speeches were made at the meetings.

Petrov, secretary of the Russian Association for Friendship and Cultural Cooperation with the DPRK, said that President Kim Il Sung was the outstanding leader who made a great contribution to the development of the friendly relations between the DPRK and Russia, adding that the immortal exploits performed by the President, the father of socialist Korea, will remain shining forever.

Nikolayev, secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, noted that the history of the DPRK is the history of the revolutionary activities of Kim Il Sung who founded the true government of the people and General Secretary Kim Jong Il who has successfully carried forward and developed the President's cause.

Dmitri Kostenko, chairman of the Russian Youth Association for the Study of the Juche Idea, and other speakers said that the DPRK which has emerged a satellite launcher and a nuclear weapons state under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Il is the country where the independence of the popular masses is fully ensured, stressing that the experience gained by the DPRK serves as a genuine model for the world progressive humankind aspiring after independence at present.

The chairman of the Laos-Korea Friendship Association said that the DPRK is the country where all the people are single-mindedly united around their leader and a powerful country which no formidable enemy dares provoke.

The chairman of the Finland-Korea Association extended full support and solidarity to the Korean people in their drive to open the gate to a thriving nation in 2012.

The chairman of the Sweden-Korea Friendship Association said that the Korean people beat back the U.S. imperialists' armed invasion under the wise leadership of the President and built on this land socialism, independent in politics, self-supporting in economy and self-reliant in national defence.

Messages of greetings to Kim Jong Il were adopted at the meetings held in Russia, Finland and Sweden.