Kim Jong-un sends Donald Trump his best wishes and says he 'sincerely hopes' he recovers soon from COVID-19
Kim Jong Un has sent a message of sympathy to President Donald Trump, wishing him well and hoping he quickly recovers from the coronavirus, North Korean state media said on Saturday.
The North Korean offered his sympathy and 'warm greetings' to Trump and his wife, KCNA reported.
'He sincerely hoped that they would be recovered as soon as possible,' KCNA said.
'He hoped they will surely overcome it.'
Trump and Kim developed an unprecedented relationship, staging the first meetings between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, and Trump once declared that they 'fell in love' after exchanging letters.
Trump and Kim Jong-un, pictured in June 2019, developed an unprecedented relationship
North Korea's leader, in a photo provided on October 2, wished the president well
Donald Trump was taken by helicopter to the Walter Reed hospital on Friday night
Efforts to press North Korea to give up its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions stalled after those meeting failed to lead to a denuclearization deal, but the two leaders have continued to trade messages.
North Korea has taken some of the most drastic actions of any country against the virus, and did so sooner than most other nations.
It sealed its borders in late January, shutting off business with neighboring China, which accounts for nine-tenths of its external trade, the New York Times reported.
It clamped down on smugglers and quarantined all diplomats in Pyongyang for a month.
In July the country announced what was suspected to be the first case, stemming from a 24-year-old runaway who reportedly returned home with the possible virus infection from South Korea.
Kim, pictured with Trump in June 2019, sent his 'warm greetings' to the U.S. leader Saturday
Trump is pictured leaving the helicopter on arrival at the hospital on Friday evening
North Korea's caseload is unknown, but believed to be low, given the isolationism.
In September the top U.S. commander in South Korea, General Robert Abrams, said that the hermetic country has since issued 'shoot-to-kill' orders to prevent the coronavirus from entering the country from China.
The coronavirus-related security zones were first reported by the Daily NK, a Seoul-based news website with sources in North Korea.
The outlet said the new rules stipulated that anyone 'breaking rules or disrupting public order near the border will be shot without warning.'
The rules apply to all areas of the country, it said.