Forty years have elapsed since the visit of H.E. Gnassingbe Eyadema, President of the Republic of Togo, to our country from September 29 to October 4, 1981.
The great leader President Kim Il Sung extended a warm welcome to the Togolese President and his party who had visited Pyongyang with friendly feelings. He met with the Togolese President as many as ten times during his stay and gave him valuable teachings with regard to the building of a new society and the strengthening and development of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
The great leader provided detailed solutions to each of the questions raised by the Togolese President concerning the building of a new society, saying that a newly independent country should build an independent national economy in order to defend political independence and maintain national sovereignty, and the overriding priority in economic construction is to attain self-sufficiency in food.
He also stressed that the NAM countries should adhere to the principle of the Movement, and they should not join any military bloc, nor permit big countries to take advantage of themselves, nor offer military bases to them.
The great leader arranged a grand banquet and dinner for President Eyadema and his party, appreciated an artistic performance together with them and attended a mass rally of Pyongyang City held in their honor. He also signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Togo.
Deeply moved by the outstanding ideology and leadership, noble personality and high virtue of the great leader, the Togolese President expressed his strong feelings in his speech at the mass rally, saying that the successes achieved by the Korean people and the international prestige and reputation held by the DPRK eloquently prove that a big country does not beget a great man, but a great man begets a great nation, and that he pays the highest tribute to President Kim Il Sung, a great genius who created the immortal Juche Idea and applied it in practice.
The agreement achieved between the great leader President Kim Il Sung and Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema has underpinned the steady growth and development of bilateral relations in political, economic, cultural and other fields, and the close mutual support and collaboration at NAM and in other international arena.
The immortal feats of the great leader President Kim Il Sung permeated in the history of friendly relations between the DPRK and Togo will shine forever, and we will continue to work for consolidating and developing the relations with Togo, as required by the new era.
Pak Yong Hyok
Secretary General, Korea-Africa Association
