Pyongyang, December 26 (KCNA) -- Personages of different circles of Ethiopia and diplomatic envoys of different countries paid condolatory visits to the DPRK embassy on Dec. 22 over the demise of leader Kim Jong Il.

Those personages included the director－general of the Department for Asia of the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry, the president and the vice-president of University of Addis Ababa and the director of the Addis Ababa Gabriel Hospital.

The visitors laid wreaths and bouquets before the portrait of Kim Jong Il and observed a moment's silence.

The director-general said that the demise of Kim Jong Il is sorrow not only to the Korean people but to the Ethiopian people.

He expressed belief that the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries would continue to develop under the deep care of Kim Jong Un, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea.