Esteemed Comrade General Secretary Hu Jintao,

Dear Chinese comrades,

I am very pleased to visit China again after nearly four months at the warm invitation of you Comrade general secretary and have a significant meeting with you.

I, above all, would like to express heartfelt thanks to you for having come to Jilin Province, far away from Beijing, to entertain us to this grand banquet and make a friendly speech just before.

My deep thanks also go to senior officials of national levels and Jilin Province and other Chinese comrades for warmly welcoming us as their own flesh and blood.

Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces are a witness to Korea-China friendship and a historical land dear to the Korean people as Comrade President Kim Il Sung waged a hard-fought revolutionary struggle against the Japanese imperialists together with Chinese comrades in this area, leaving indelible footsteps.

He in his lifetime had often recollected this historical land and wanted to visit here again. Carrying his desire with us, we have come here today.

Entering the northeastern area of China we have felt that this area, which had been trampled down ruthlessly by the Japanese imperialists, is now vibrant with life, enjoying a splendid development in political, economic, cultural and all other fields under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

All the changes the area has undergone go to show that the validity and vitality of the CPC's line and policies have been proved in practice.

That everything is going well in China, which shares mountain and river with our country, greatly inspires our people in their effort for the cause of socialism and the reunification of the country.

We are convinced that the northeastern area of China, including Jilin Province, will as ever make great achievements under the leadership of the CPC headed by you in the effort to build a harmoniously and comprehensive well-off socialist society, by successfully implementing the strategy of the development of the northeastern area on the basis of the viewpoint of scientific development.

From the moment we entered this area, where Comrade President Kim Il Sung, together with Chinese revolutionaries of elder generation, fought bloody battles against the Japanese imperialists, even eating and sleeping under the open sky, we have been wrapped in solemn feelings, thinking of traces of blood shed by revolutionary forerunners still gleaming on the crags of Jangbaek and in the stream of Amnok, and keenly felt the valuableness of Korea-China friendship.

In his youth Comrade President Kim Il Sung fought a hard-fought struggle against the Japanese imperialists here in the northeastern area, breathing air and drinking water in China and, in those days, provided a brilliant history and excellent tradition of unbreakable Korea-China friendship together with Chinese revolutionaries of elder generation.

With the international situation remaining complicated, it is our important historical mission to hand over to the rising generation the baton of the traditional friendship passed over by the revolutionary forerunners of the two countries as a precious asset so as to carry it forward through generations.

Last year we fully demonstrated the solidness and might of the bilateral friendship through events of "Year of Korea-China Friendship".

In particular, I had significant meetings with you and other leading officials of the Chinese party and reached identity of view in lots of matters in last May, further deepening the political trust and strikingly displaying the invincibility of the bilateral friendship again to the world.

Steadily developing the friendship through generations is an important issue in defending peace and security in the Northeast Asia and the rest of the world.

It is an unswerving policy of our party and government to further develop through generations and centuries Korea-China friendship, which has overcome all sorts of hardship through history.

We will as ever make every possible effort to put this friendship on a higher level, true to the noble intention of the revolutionary forerunners of the two countries.