Pyongyang, February 18 (KCNA) -- Koreans in Japan significantly celebrated the auspicious February holiday, the birth anniversary of Chairman Kim Jong Il.

Officials of the Central Standing Committee of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) met at the Korean Hall in Tokyo on Feb. 13 to lay a flower basket before the portrait of Kim Jong Il.

The participants paid tribute to Kim Jong Il, praying for his immortality.

A meeting of Koreans in Japan took place at the Korean Hall to celebrate the 84th birth anniversary of Kim Jong Il.

Present there were Chairman Ho Jong Man, First Vice-Chairman and Director of the Organization Department Pak Ku Ho, Vice-Chairman Nam Sung U, Vice-Chairman and Director General of the General Affairs Department Pae Jin Gu, Vice-Chairman Jo Il Yon, Vice-Chairman and Director of the Department for International Affairs So Chung On and Vice-Chairwoman and concurrently Chairwoman of the Central Standing Committee of the Korean Democratic Women's Union in Japan Kang Chu Ryon of the Chongryon Central Standing Committee and, Ri Myong Yu, chairman of the Central Audit Committee of Chongryon, and directors of the Chongryon Central Standing Committee, the director of the Research Institute on History of Korean Residents in Japan and chairpersons of Chongryon regional headquarters in Kanto area.

Pak Ku Ho, first vice-chairman of the Chongryon Central Standing Committee and director of its Organization Department, made a report.

The reporter praised Kim Jong Il as an outstanding leader who developed Chongryon into a patriotic pioneer, a model of patriotism and loyalty and a model of overseas compatriots' organization of the world and as a paternal father and defender of the destiny of Chongryon and Koreans in Japan.

Thanks to the great fortune of February, the DPRK is now greeting the era of miracles and changes bringing earlier the building of a powerful socialist country and a new era of overall state prosperity, he said.

He called upon all the officials and compatriots of Chongryon to turn out in the patriotic activities for writing a great new history of the movement of Koreans in Japan, cherishing the faith that the patriotic cause of Chongryon is invincible along with the cause of Juche under the leadership of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un.

A congratulatory letter to Kim Jong Un was adopted at the meeting.

A lecture was given by the Chongryon Central Standing Committee at the Korean Hall on February 14 to celebrate the 84th birth anniversary of Kim Jong Il. -0-