Pyongyang, March 27 (KCNA) — Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, hosted a reception on March 26 in welcome of the visit of Aleksandr Lukashenko, president of the Republic of Belarus, to the DPRK.

Present at the reception on invitation were Yuri Shuleiko, deputy prime minister of the government of the Republic of Belarus, Maxim Ryzhenkov, minister of Foreign Affairs, Aleksandr Khodzhayev, minister of Public Health, Andrei Ivanets, minister of Education, Andrei Kuznetsov, minister of Industry, and other suite members.

On hand were Kim Jae Ryong, Ri Il Hwan and Kim Song Nam, secretaries of the WPK Central Committee, Choe Son Hui, foreign minister of the DPRK, and Kim Tok Hun, first vice-premier of the Cabinet.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un made a speech in welcome of Comrade Aleksandr Lukashenko’s visit to the DPRK.

He appreciated that the visit of President Aleksandr Lukashenko to the DPRK serves as a step of important significance in putting the traditional relations of friendship between the DPRK and Belarus on a new high stage.

He said that he was pleased to confirm the will of the leaderships of the two countries to further boost and develop the bilateral relations of friendship and get the confidence that they can do many things beneficial to promoting the prosperity and development of the two countries and the wellbeing of the two peoples in the future, through the meeting and talks of today.

Aleksandr Lukashenko made a reply speech.

He extended thanks to Kim Jong Un for inviting him to visit the beautiful DPRK and according warm hospitality to the delegation of the Republic of Belarus.

Saying that the friendly relations between the two countries are now developing in a very fast speed, he added that through the visit, the Republic of Belarus and the DPRK agreed on boosting efforts to expand and intensify the comprehensive cooperation with each other and the leaderships of the two countries confirmed that they have the same opinion on international affairs.

The participants in the reception toasted the development of the friendly and cooperative relations between the DPRK and the Republic of Belarus.

The reception proceeded in an amicable and warm atmosphere.