Displayed in their venues were photos on the revolutionary history of Kim Il Sung and the Songun leadership feats of Kim Jong Il, books and photos on the Korean people in the efforts to build a thriving nation and achieve the country's reunification.

Speeches were made at the meetings.

Mauro Cazadio, general secretary of the Struggle for the Peace and Socialism of Italy, said that greeting July 8 every year, the progressive people would look back upon the immortal contribution to the human history of thought and the development of the socialist movement made by the President who lies in state, and highly praised his feats for founding the party, the country and the army.

The President will always live in the hearts of mankind as the great thinker-theoretician, statesman and strategist, he stressed.

The vice-chairman of the Basic Trade Union for Improving Labor Conditions of Working People of Italy said that the Korean people have achieved great success in the showdown with the imperialist allied forces under the banner of the Juche idea, the Songun idea founded by the President and developed and enriched by Kim Jong Il.

Songchit Pullarp, chairman of the Organization for the Study of the Juche Idea of Thailand, said that the President is the extraordinary elder statesman and the peerlessly great man who made great contributions to the Korean revolution and global independence with his unique leadership.

The global independence had advanced victoriously along the correct road thanks to his leadership, the chairman added.