Present there were Kim Yong Nam, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK; Choe Ryong Hae, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK, vice-chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and vice-chairman of the WPK Central Committee; Premier Pak Pong Ju, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and vice-chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK; and other senior officials of the Party, government and the army and delegates to the celebrations for the 70th birthday of the DPRK.

Invited there were congratulatory groups and delegations of overseas compatriots including those from Japan, overseas compatriots staying in the socialist homeland and the chief of the Pyongyang mission of the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front.

Among the foreign guests were the delegations, special envoys, delegates, personages on a visit to the DPRK to attend the celebrations, diplomatic envoys and representatives of international bodies here, military attaches and their wives.

Speeches were made at the receptions.

Speakers said that the 70-year-long history of the DPRK is characterized by the patriotic devotion of President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il, and by the heroic Korean people's loyalty to them.

They called for increasing the national strength of Juche Korea in every way possible, by developing its government as befits a mighty weapon for carrying out the cause of socialism and effecting a series of miraculous changes in all sectors and units under the direction of the WPK.

They stressed the stand of the DPRK government to open up a broad avenue towards independent reunification based on the principle of By Our Nation Itself, promote the relations of friendship and cooperation with those countries that respect the sovereignty of the DPRK, and fulfil its responsibility and role in ensuring peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in the rest of the world.

These receptions were given at the Mokran House, the People's Palace of Culture, the Okryu Restaurant, the Chongnyu Restaurant, the Pyongyang Noodle House, the floating restaurant Taedonggang and the general-service ship Mujigae.