PHOTO: Joyous North Korean women celebrate naming of a Damascus park after late leader Kim Il-Sung
There is a reason for people across Syria to be cheerful today: Damascus has a park named after a late leader of North Korea.
On Monday, a ceremony named a park</strong> in the Kafrsouseh neighborhood after Kim Il-Sung, who was the ruler of North Korea from its formation in 1948 until his death in 1994.
The ceremony, which included the unveiling of a monument to Kim, marked the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Korea from Japan and the formation the Communist Workers’ Party.
Syrian officials made sure they linked Monday’s festivities to the current conflict, with Deputy Foreign Minister Feisal al-Mikdad “lauding [North Korea’s] support for Syria in the face of terrorism and affirming the need to improve bilateral relations”.
The North Korean Ambassador responded, “The crisis that has been affecting Syria for over four years is the result of conspiracies and plots by the U.S. and its pawns with the aim of toppling Syria and establishing control over the Middle East.” He expressed “confidence that the Syrian Arab Army will emerge victorious”.
