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SEOUL – Chinese President Xi Jinping offered on Saturday to help North Korea contain the new coronavirus, in response to an earlier message from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
“China is ready to enhance cooperation against the epidemic with the DPRK and provide all the support that its capacity allows the DPRK in line with the DPRK’s needs,” Xi said, according to the state news agency Xinhua. DPRK means the official name of the country, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
He also expressed confidence in a “final victory” over the pandemic through the combined efforts of China, North Korea and the international community.
Xi’s comments were a response to a message Kim sent last week, praising Beijing’s success in stopping the virus.
The Chinese leader, saying he was very pleased to receive Kim’s “warm and friendly message”, added that he highly appreciates the bilateral relations between the two countries and that he intends to “strengthen strategic communication” and “deepen exchanges and The cooperation”.
China has COVID-19 under control, and the number of new infections has decreased considerably since its peak in February. In a sign of improvement, on April 9, China ended its blockade of Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak was first reported late last year.
North Korea has insisted that it has not had a single confirmed case, despite sharing a border with China. Many observers dispute Pyongyang’s claim and have expressed concern that the country’s fragile health system cannot cope with a massive outbreak.
The exchange of notes comes after weeks of intense speculation about Kim’s health. The leader of the North missed an event commemorating the country’s most important vacation, the birthday of his late grandfather Kim Il-sung, the founding father of the North, on April 15 for the first time since he took office in 2011.
His rare absence sparked a whirlwind of rumors, including reports that he was dead or in a vegetative state after failed cardiovascular surgery. But after a three-week hiatus, Kim canceled the rumors by appearing at a fertilizer plant opening ceremony.
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