Pyongyang: 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.
According to Yonhap News Agency, 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.
Kim expressed confidence that the friendly, cooperative relations between the two parties and countries, which have a long history and tradition, will further strengthen and advance across all sectors. This sentiment was shared during their meeting in October last year in Pyongyang.
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.