Present there were Pae Ik Ju, vice-chairman of the Central Standing Committee of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), Kim Chun Gwon, chairman of the Hyogo Prefectural Headquarters of Chongryon, and other officials, bereaved families and Korean compatriots.

The participants paid silent tribute to the Korean victims.

Pae Ik Ju said that Kim Jong Il sent a message of sympathy and one million U.S. dollars to Koreans who suffered damage from the great Hanshin quake in 1995.

The loving care shown by Kim Jong Il for Koreans in Japan is invariably shedding its rays thanks to Marshal Kim Jong Un, Pae noted.

He called upon Chongryon officials and Korean compatriots in Hyogo Prefecture to turn out this year marking the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation and the 60th anniversary of the formation of Chongryon in the "innovation movement for greeting the 60th anniversary of the formation of Chongryon with achievements of leaping progress to a new heyday" which is being conducted from the outset of the year by inheriting the patriotic tradition and the spirit with which they overcame huge damage caused by the great quake.

Kim Chun Gwon expressed his will to glorify the 60th anniversary of Chongryon with signal achievements by giving spurs to the patriotic movement by dint of the single-minded unity under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, bearing deep in mind the loving care and solicitude shown by Kim Jong Il.