Kim Jong Un, president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, sent a message of greeting to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation, on June 12.

The message said:

My dearest friend Comrade Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin,

On the occasion of the national day of the Russian Federation, I, on behalf of the government and people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and on my own, extend warm congratulations and comradely greetings to you and, through you, to the fraternal government and people of Russia.

The Day of Russia, which every Russian greets with boundless dignity and self-respect filled with a solemn feeling of patriotism, is a significant holiday with a really profound meaning in the whole historical course of the Russian state, whose values are justice, freedom, self-sustenance and unity.

Today Russia is shaping its future with confidence, overcoming all sorts of internal and external challenges and threats under your wise and seasoned leadership, and we feel really pleased with the successes achieved by the Russian Federation, our fraternal state.

I am fully convinced that the sacred cause of the government and people of your country to defend their national sovereignty, security interests and territorial integrity and build a powerful Russia will surely emerge victorious.

Esteemed Comrade Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin,

Today the traditional DPRK-Russia friendship has been further cemented thanks to the militant comradeship the service personnel of the two countries have forged at the cost of their blood in the just sacred war to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia; it has developed into an excellent model of indestructible, genuine relationship between comrades-in-arms and between allies.

It is an unshakable will of the government of the DPRK and of my own steadfastly to carry on the DPRK-Russia relations, which have been sealed and verified in the face of all sorts of trials and challenges of history, to a heyday of comprehensive prosperity.