Present there on invitation were Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun, Vice Department Director of the Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee Ri Yong Chol, Vice-Minister of Public Health Ri Pong Hun, Vice-Chairman of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries Mun Jae Chol and officials concerned.

Staff members of the Palestinian embassy were on hand.

The ambassador, addressing the reception, said that Kim Jong Il is wisely leading the efforts of the Korean people to open the gate to a thriving socialist nation in 2012, the centenary of birth of President Kim Il Sung.

Under his guidance they are effecting a new leap forward and innovations in all fields this year marking the 65th anniversary of the WPK, he said.

The friendly relations between Palestine and the DPRK are growing stronger under the deep care of Mahmoud Abbas and Kim Jong Il, he said, adding that the leadership and people of Palestine would as ever extend support and solidarity to the Korean people in their just cause.

Pak in his reply said that Kim Jong Il has led the revolution and construction to victory, performing undying feats on behalf of the country and its people, the times and history.

It is the consistent stand of the DPRK government to boost the friendly relations between the two countries provided by President Kim Il Sung and President Yasser Arafat, he noted.

The DPRK will send invariable support to the just cause of the Palestinian people to retake legitimate national rights including the right to found an independent state with Kuds as its capital, he stressed.