His recent visit to China marked a historical event of weighty significance in further boosting the traditional DPRK-China friendship, the article notes, and goes on:

The peoples of the two countries helped each other in the common struggle against foreign aggressors from long ago. In this course they deepened the friendship and bonds. The history of the DPRK-China relations in the 20th century proved that the bonds of friendship between the two peoples were unbreakable as they grew strong, standing all tests and storms.

The DPRK-China friendship has grown strong in the new century.

The last decade of the new century was a meaningful period in which Kim Jong Il brought about a new phase in the bilateral friendship by injecting great vitality into the development of the friendly relations through his indefatigable external activities.

He paid a visit to China nine months after visiting it twice last year. This clearly testifies to his devoted service and exploits performed for steadily advancing the history of the bilateral friendship. This time he made more than 6,000 km-long journeys, providing a new milestone of the traditional DPRK-China friendship.

He has conducted energetic external activities in the new century, paying deep attention to the exchange of high-level delegations, contact and exchange between the two countries.

The immortal traces of external activities conducted by him and his feats performed in the last more than decade of the new century including the events in which he received various delegations of China during their visits to the DPRK are brilliantly recorded in the history of DPRK-China friendship.