Top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Il on Sunday sent a message to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese rule.

Kim Jong Il said in the message that he hopes the relations between the DPRK and Russia will develop in the spirit of the joint documents signed between the two sides, the official news agency KCNA reported.

Medvedev sent a message to Kim Jong Il on Aug. 12, offering his congratulations on the 65th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, the report said.

The Russian president said that the friendship between the two countries would further develop to help promote the security and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the region of Northeast Asia as a whole, according to the KCNA report.

In 1910, with the signing of the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, Korea was brought under Japan's colonial rule. It was not until 1945 when Japan surrendered to the Allies at the end of World War II that Korea attained final liberation.