Syria Feature: Assad — “North Korea and Syria Are Among Few Countries Who Enjoy Real Independence”

PHOTO: President Assad with North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Sin Hong Chol

President Bashar al-Assad has told a North Korean delegation that Syria and North Korea are among the few countries in the world who “enjoy real independence”.

Assad received a group led by North Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sin Hong Chol on Sunday.

Assad said, “Syria and North Korea are being targeted because they are among those few countries which enjoy real independence and because they stand in one ditch against the very enemy that seeks to change the national identity of their peoples.”

The President said that the cooperation and assistance of the two countries for each other “stem first and foremost from the ethical principles between the two countries built on the national dignity and loyalty to friends”.

According to Syrian State news agency SANA, Chol stressed that North Korea “will not spare any effort to support the Syrian people in defending the sovereignty and independence of their country, as it will back them in their just struggle in counter-terrorism”.