Pyongyang, September 5 (KCNA) -- The Switzerland-Korea Committee on August 24 posted on its Internet homepage an article congratulating leader Kim Jong Il on his successful visit to the Siberian and Far East regions of the Russian Federation.

The article said Lake Baikal he toured while visiting the said regions is a significant place President Kim Il Sung visited in July 1961.

Kim Jong Il got aboard passenger ship "Inperiya" and recollected in reverence the brilliant life and exploits of the President who devoted his all to the friendship among countries and accomplishment of the human cause of independence, the article noted.

The President visited the former Soviet Union 9 times, deepening the friendly relations between the two peoples, it said, stressing that the feats the President performed by devoting his all to the DPRK-Russia friendship will last forever.

The current visit paid by Kim Jong Il to the said regions was a historic visit which showed his noble intention to give continuity in the 21st century, too, to the history of the DPRK-Russia friendship provided by the President, the article concluded.