North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has sent his congratulations to the Queen as she marks her Platinum Jubilee.
Kim, who like the British monarch inherited his position from his father, has written her a letter, the North Korean foreign ministry confirmed today.
The contents of the message have not been disclosed.
It comes on the first day of celebrations to mark the UK head of state's 70 years on the throne, which included a Trooping the Colour display and a fly-by through the skies of London.
The North Korean leader, no stranger to lavish parades himself, has come under fire following recent missile tests at a time of heightened worldwide tensions.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: "The private message from Kim Jong Un to Her Majesty The Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee is in line with standard practice of receiving messages from countries with whom we have diplomatic relations."
Officials have not shared the text of the message, saying it was a private message addressed to the 96-year-old monarch.
North Korea and Britain have maintained diplomatic relations since 2000 and have embassies in each country, despite tensions between the two nations.
This year North Korea has tested a flurry of ballistic missiles - banned by UNSC resolutions - and appears to be preparing to conduct a new nuclear test for the first time since 2017.
The nuclear-armed state fired several missiles last week, including one thought to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile.
Kim's secretive regime is currently battling a serious Covid outbreak.
The World Health Organization today cast doubts on North Korea's claims of progress in the fight against the virus, saying it believes the situation is getting worse.
North Korean state media has said the COVID wave has abated, after daily numbers of people with fever topped 390,000 about two weeks ago.
Pyongyang has never directly confirmed how many people have tested positive for the virus but experts suspect underreporting in the figures released through government-controlled media, making it difficult to assess the scale of the situation.
"We assume the situation is getting worse, not better," WHO emergencies chief Michael Ryan said during a video briefing.
He said the WHO did not have access to any privileged information beyond the numbers publicly reported by state media.
"We have real issues in getting access to the raw data and to the actual situation on the ground," Ryan said, adding that
the WHO is working with neighbours like South Korea and China to try to get a better picture.
North Korea reported 96,610 more people showing fever amid its nationwide lockdown aimed at containing the impoverished country's first confirmed COVID-19 outbreak, state news agency KCNA said today.
It is not known how many people have died from Covid in the outbreak.
KCNA said provinces were "intensifying" their anti-epidemic campaigns, including enforcing some lockdowns and coastal blockades, increasing production of drugs and medical supplies, and carrying out disinfection work.
