Pyongyang, August 20 (KCNA) -- Choe Son Hui, foreign minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, on August 16 sent a reply message to Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov, foreign minister of the Russian Federation, for sending a message of greeting to her on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation.

The reply message said that the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries forged in the grim days of the great anti-Japanese war have steadily developed despite all sorts of trials and challenges and the DPRK people always remember the internationalist feats performed by the officers and men of the Red Army who shed their blood in the fight for Korea's liberation.

The delegation of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and Russian artistes visited the DPRK to congratulate the DPRK people on greeting the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation, the message said, adding that this served as an occasion that demonstrated once again the invincibility and durability of the DPRK-Russia friendly relations.

The message expressed belief that the strategic communication and concerted action between the foreign policy agencies for the permanent development of the alliance between the two countries will further develop in the future, too, always remaining faithful to the inter-state treaty in conformity with the strategic plan and noble intention of the top leaders of the DPRK and Russia. -0-