The Lao paper Vatelao on Feb. 6 carried an article titled "Mt. Paektu and Comrade Kim Jong Il" illustrated with a portrait depicting his smiling image.

In its preface the paper said that Mt. Paektu is the highest in Korea, adding that the mountain called the ancestral mountain of the Korean nation, a holy mountain of the Korean revolution, would be unthinkable apart from Kim Jong Il.

The Iranian paper Teheran Times on Feb. 8 dedicated one whole page to an article titled "Life for future" under the headline "On the 73rd Anniversary of Birth of HE Kim Jong Il" illustrated with his photo.

It said:

Kim Jong Il dedicated his all to bringing into full bloom the rosy future of Korea.

He firmly maintained the principle of giving more importance to the morrow than present all his life.

He organized everything in a bold way and pushed ahead with it at the highest speed all his life, bringing earlier future.

His whole life was the one of noble dedication to the bright future of the country and people.

The Myanmar paper The New Age on Feb. 5 carried an article titled "Kim Jong Il, great master of independent politics" illustrated with a portrait depicting his smiling image and a photo of Marshal Kim Jong Un.

The paper stressed that the Songun politics is the most important one among political exploits performed by Kim Jong Il.