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Kim Jong-un congratulates Lao president on his re-election

Published: 07 Apr. 2026, 12:02 Updated: 07 Apr. 2026, 12:19

In this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 8, 2025, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, shakes hands with Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith in Pyongyang the previous day during the Lao leader's visit to the North to attend celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the North's ruling Workers' Party. [YONHAP]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has congratulated Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith on his re-election as the nation's leader, expressing his hope to further develop ties with Laos, state media reported on Tuesday.

Kim sent a congratulatory message to Sisoulith, the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, last Wednesday, as he was re-elected as president of Laos at the first session of a new parliament on March 23, according to the North's state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The North Korean leader called his re-election an expression of “deep trust and strong support” by Laos's ruling party, government and people toward Sisoulith.

Kim expressed his conviction that “friendly and cooperative relations between our two parties and two countries will continue to deepen and develop in accordance with the spirit of an agreement reached at our meeting in October last year in Pyongyang,” according to the KCNA.

The North Korean leader held talks with Sisoulith in Pyongyang in October 2025 on the occasion of the 80th founding anniversary of North Korea's Workers' Party, during which they agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Yonhap