June Juche 89 (2000) witnessed the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang which culminated in the adoption of the north-south joint declaration for the first time in the history of national division.

The declaration clarifies the principled issues arising in independently realizing the reunification of the country by pooling efforts of the nation, and the ways of doing so and the whole spectrum of issues arising in achieving the inter-Korean reconciliation and many-sided interchanges and cooperation.

The summit and the declaration were a historic event of weighty significance in accomplishing the cause of the independent reunification of the Korean nation, and the June 15 joint declaration is the great programme for national reunification all the Koreans should uphold in the new century.

Thanks to the adoption of the declaration, the Korean nation greeted the June 15 era of reunification, the new era of independent reunification, and the inter-Korean ties of distrust and confrontation that had lasted for more than half a century could become those of reconciliation and cooperation that pave the road for national reunification by concerted efforts of the nation.

The great June 15 era of reunification is a priceless fruit of Kim Jong Il's steadfast patriotic will for national reunification and experienced leadership.

He devoted his all to the country's reunification and the nation's prosperity, regarding it as his lifetime mission to thoroughly carry out the behests of President Kim Il Sung for national reunification.

Kim Jong Il made painstaking patriotic efforts, indeed, and performed undying feats for the cause of national reunification, dedicating his whole life till the last moments of his great life to presenting the reunified country to the Koreans. His undying feats will go down in the history of the country.