Present there on invitation were vice-minister of Finance, deputies to the State Duma and members of the Federation Council of Russia, and personages of the United Russia Party, A Just Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, the Party for Peace and Unity, the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Interior, the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Economy and Development, ministries of Finance, Culture, Extraordinary Situation and Agriculture, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Moscow City Government, the "Russian Railways" Company, Gazprom, the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Veterans Association of Moscow, the Russian Association for Friendship and Cultural Cooperation with the DPRK, the Federation of International Charity Organizations "World of Goodwill" and officials of the Un

ited Confederation of Koreans in Russia.

The participants laid a floral basket and bouquets before the full-length painting of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il standing together before paying tribute to them.

Speeches were made at the reception.

Kim Yong Jae, DPRK ambassador to Russia, said it was thanks to Kim Il Sung who founded the DPRK that the Korean people came to live a worthwhile life as masters of their own destiny, power and the country for the first time in their history spanning 5 000 years.

The DPRK is demonstrating its dignity and might as an independent powerful state under the wise leadership of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, he stressed.

He reiterated his will to invariably boost the DPRK-Russia friendly and cooperative relations with a long history and tradition in the future, too, in line with the joint documents signed by the top leaders of the two countries and in the spirit of the treaty signed between the two states.

Karlov, director of the Consular Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, praised the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries as good relations tested by history, adding that the Russia-DPRK relations have reached a new phase of their development with the summit in 2011 as an occasion and they are growing stronger in different fields under the care of the top leaders of the two countries.

He expressed hope that the friendly Korean people would achieve great success in their socio-economic development and enjoy happiness and prosperity under the leadership of the dear respected Kim Jong Un.