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| ▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) speaks with Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith in Pyongyang on Oct. 7, 2025, as the Lao official visited the North to attend celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea, in this file photo from the Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) NK leader-Lao president
(LEAD) N. Korea's Kim congratulates Lao president on reelection as party chief
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 6-8)
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has congratulated Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith on his recent reelection as chief of the ruling party, state media reported Friday.
Kim delivered the greeting in a message the previous day after the Lao president was reelected as general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party's central committee at a party congress that concluded the same day, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Kim called his reelection an expression of the Lao ruling party members' and the Lao people's "high trust and expectation" toward Sisoulith.
Kim also pledged to expand cooperation with Laos, recalling his summit talks with Sisoulith in Pyongyang last year.
"I express confidence that the friendly, cooperative relations between our parties and countries, which have a long history and tradition, will further strengthen and advance across all sectors in the spirit of our agreement during our meeting in October last year in Pyongyang," Kim was quoted as saying.
The KCNA said Sisoulith also sent a reply last month to Kim's earlier message congratulating him on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Laos.
The KCNA quoted Sisoulith as calling their October talks "an important landmark in deepening and widening the friendly ties between the two countries" in the message sent Dec. 31.
"I am firmly confident that the friendship and close cooperation (between North Korea and Laos) will bring practical benefits to the peoples of the two countries and contribute to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the world," the Lao leader was quoted as saying.
Kim held a summit with Sisoulith in Pyongyang in October on the occasion of the 80th founding anniversary of the North's ruling party, where they agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
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