Jo Myong Rok's sojourn in Beijing
KCNA
Beijing, April 21 (KCNA) -- A ceremony took place in the plaza in front of the August 1 Building here today to welcome Jo Myong Rok, first vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, visiting China.
Present at the welcome ceremony were Jo Myong Rok and general Pak Jae Gyong and col. gen. Pak Sung Won of the Korean People's Army, DPRK Ambassador Choe Jin Su and other suite members.
On hand were col. gen. Guo Boxiong, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China and vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, col. gen. Xu Caihou, director of the general political department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army who is member of the CPC Central Military Commission and concurrently member of the PRC Central Military Commission, col. gen. Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of the CPLA general staff, and other officials concerned.
On the same day, Jo Myong Rok met with Guo Boxiong.
Guo said that China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors bordering on the same mountain and river and their traditional friendship has a long history. The Sino-Korean friendship had been cultivated and developed by Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and President Kim Il Sung and other veteran revolutionaries of the two countries, and it is a precious heritage they left for us, he noted.
At the new historical time, the bilateral friendship is further developing under the care of Chairman Jiang Zemin and General Secretary kim jong il, he said, expressing belief that the friendly relations between the two parties, governments and armies of china and the DPRK will be put on a higher stage.
He hoped that the Korean people and army would make greater success in the state building, the improvement of the standard of people's living and the modernization of the army under the correct guidance of Kim Jong Il and the Workers' Party of Korea.
Jo also met and had a friendly talk with col. gen. Cao Gangchuan, state councillor and minister of defence who is vice-chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission and concurrently vice-chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission.
