The article said:

February 16 this year made people miss General Secretary Kim Jong Il very much after his demise.

I was fortunate to be involved in receiving Kim Jong Il several times when he was visiting China.

In particular, I, as ambassador to the DPRK, had the honor of being received by the General Secretary on many occasions and in this course I felt his deep care for the Sino-DPRK friendship and sincerity toward China.

Like the Korean people greeting the Day of the Shining Star, my yearning for him is growing stronger and his tender-hearted image would come to my mind.

Kim Jong Il was the great leader of the Korean people and a close friend of the Chinese people.

The whole land of China is associated with footprints of Kim Jong Il, the article said, adding:

General Secretary Kim Jong Il frequently recollected President Kim Il Sung forged genuine feelings with revolutionaries of the elder generation of China including Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai and Comrade Deng Xiaoping and provided the traditional Sino-DPRK friendship.

In the new century he, together with Chinese leaders, glorified the friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

It is the common understanding of the two parties and countries and the desire common to the two peoples to consolidate and develop the traditional Sino-DPRK friendship.

General Secretary Kim Jong Il visited China eight times in the new century.

He visited China four times between 2010 and 2011 and had cordial meetings with the party and state leaders of China, sharing deep understanding.

He reached a series of major common understandings of the relations between the two countries and international and regional issues, giving strong impetus to the development of the Sino-DPRK friendly relations.

He opened a bright prospect for the Sino-DPRK friendship and made a great contribution to peace and stability in the region.

General Secretary Kim Jong Il together with Comrade Kim Jong Un received party and government and military delegations of China during their visits to the DPRK and hosted banquets in their honor.

Kim Jong Il attached great importance to the inheritance and development of the traditional friendship between the two parties and countries.

He always paid deep attention to educating the younger generation so that the baton of the DPRK-China friendship was successfully carried forward.

Thanks to his initiative the Cemetery of Fallen Fighters of the Chinese People's Volunteers in Hoechang County was rebuilt to eternally hand it down to the generations of the two countries to come.

The great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il made sure that overall exchange and cooperation were briskly conducted in different fields including economy, culture, arts and education between the two countries, the article noted, and went on:

General Secretary Kim Jong Il clarified the importance of cultural exchange in promoting the development of the Sino-DPRK friendly relations.

Under his guidance artistes of the DPRK successfully created the operas "A Dream of Red Mansions" and "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai".

A new chapter "Arirang of Friendship" was added to the grand gymnastic and artistic performance "Arirang", deeply impressing and encouraging Chinese spectators.

He, together with us, enjoyed the performance of Chinese dance drama "Confetti on Silk Road".

The ambassador recalled Kim Jong Il paid deep attention to the work of the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang.

While touring various places, we witnessed the Korean people striving hard to build a thriving socialist nation, in single-minded unity under the leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Il.

We experienced that the Sino-DPRK friendship is displaying great vitality, deeply rooted in the minds of the people and we came to be confident of the prospect of the development of the Sino-DPRK friendship and cooperation.

We, at the same time, firmly pledged ourselves to positively contribute to the development of the Sino-DPRK friendship by realizing the noble intention of the top leaders of the two countries.

Noting that the Sino-DPRK relations grew stronger last year thanks to the deep concern of General Secretary Hu Jintao and General Secretary Kim Jong Il, he continued:

We are convinced of more beautiful future, full of faith.

The Korean people are successfully putting the far-reaching plan of General Secretary Kim Jong Il into practice.

The Korean people united close around the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea headed by Comrade Kim Jong Un are now making vigorous endeavors to implement the behests of General Secretary Kim Jong Il and fling open the gate to a thriving nation.

We heartily wish the DPRK prosperity and its people happiness.