Present at the ceremony were Choe Thae Bok, secretary of the C.C., the Workers' Party of Korea, and the chairman of a friendly party and others and a congratulatory group of the General Association of Koreans in China led by its Chairwoman Choe Un Bok and other overseas compatriots and the chief of the Pyongyang Mission of the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front and foreign guests.

The figure skaters of the DPRK, Russia, Hungary, Belarus, Switzerland, France, the Czech Republic, UK, Australia and Ukraine entered the venue of the opening ceremony.

Pak Hak Son, chairman of the Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission, noted in his opening address that the festival provides a good opportunity to boost the unity and cooperation among sports persons who love peace and justice.

The ceremony was followed by a group performance given by DPRK figure skaters.

To the tune of the song "Confetti of Best Wishes" figure skaters presented graceful and refined rhythms extending highest glory and best wishes to Kim Jong Il.

They performed on the ice-rink "Push Back the Frontiers of Science", "Higher and Faster", "Let Us Meet at the Front" and other numbers reflecting the iron faith and will of the service personnel and people of the DPRK.

The ceremony was followed by a demonstration performance.

The figure skaters of the DPRK and other countries who gave a good account of themselves in international contests were applauded by the spectators for presenting refined and high skills and unique movements based on a good ensemble.