Memorandum of Conversation between Soviet Ambassador to North Korea Vasily Moskovsky and Kim Il Sung

14 August 1962

[I] paid a visit to comrade Kim Il Sung in the building of the Cabinet of Ministers of the DPRK. After mutual greetings a conversation took place that lasted for 1 hour 15 minutes. Foreign Minister of the DPRK Pak Seong-cheol [Pak Song Chol] was present during the conversation.

In the course of the conversation, comrade Kim Il Sung said the following:

We are happy to greet the new extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of the USSR in the DPRK and express confidence that relations of fraternal friendship and cooperation between our peoples, governments, parties, and between us personally will further strengthen and develop.

This should be expected, added comrade Kim Il Sung, because our friendly relations are historically formed [and] traditional. The Soviet Union is our liberator and the best friend; it provides us with aid and support. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union is the vanguard of the international communist and workers' movement; it is a kind of an elder brother for our party. The CPSU has always helped our party, supported it [and] provided it with useful advice. We believe that the Korean Workers' Party is the younger brother of the CPSU. Therefore, stressed comrade Kim Il Sung, we have always and fully supported and will support your party and government in all matters. We will further educate our people in the spirit of internationalist fraternal friendship with the Soviet people, which has deep historical roots. This is our duty as communists.

To you, as to the ambassador representing here the Communist Party and the government of the Soviet Union, continued comrade Kim Il Sung, we will provide full support in work, inform you about all the changes that take place in our country. We, as true friends, do not have secrets from each other. [...]

[I] thanked comrade Kim Il Sung for a detailed account, conveyed to him friendly greetings and wishes of good health from comrade N.S. Khrushchev, told [him] about my meeting with comrade Khrushchev before my departure for Pyongyang. Nikita Sergeyevich asked [me] to pass on [to you] that the Central Committee and he personally believe that relations between our parties have been good and we are happy with this. Comrade Kim Il Sung replied that he fully agreed with this estimate of Nikita Sergeyevich and believed that we had no unclear questions and doubts. [...]

When I passed on to Kim Il Sung Nikita Sergeyevich's invitation to visit or come for a [medical] treatment in the Soviet Union, he cordially thanked [me] for the invitation, promised to make use of this invitation as soon as this becomes necessary for health, and stressed that he had no one else to ask for medical help except the CPSU.

Further, comrade Kim Il Sung said that after the holiday he plans to attend to military matters, become acquainted with the state of defense of the country. In this regard, he mentioned the significant military aid provided by the Soviet Union to the DPRK during his visit to Moscow in the summer of 1961, as well as the aid being provided at the present time by the Soviet comrades in the sphere of air defense. He also added that soon after the holiday of 15 August he will meet with the Soviet ambassador and talk about military matters. [...]