North Korea hosts foreign delegations

Nation marks eighty years since founding

- 

Vietnam's Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, left, shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, during a welcoming ceremony at the Pyongyang Sports Palace as part of a three-day official visit in North Korea, yesterday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un yesterday praised the legacy of the country's ruling party in a speech ahead of today's 80th anniversary of its founding, as delegations from China, Russia and Vietnam arrived in Pyongyang to attend celebrations.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, a delegation from Russia led by former President Dmitry Medvedev as well as Vietnam's Communist Party chief To Lam, are among foreign dignitaries joining events to mark the anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea in the isolated state this week.

Mr Li, who was met by an honour guard at Pyongyang's airport, said that China and North Korea "as socialist neighbours connected by mountains and rivers had a profound traditional friendship," China's foreign ministry said in a statement.