Queen sends greetings message to Kim Jong-un on North Korea’s national day

The Queen has sent a message to Kim Jong-un on the occasion of North Korea’s national day, despite the nation repeatedly ramping up its weapons testing as humanitarian talks falter

The Queen has sent a message to Kim Jong-un on the occasion of North Korea’s national day.

North Korea’s national news agency, KCNA, shared the news of the Her Majesty’s message, which was sent on September 7.

The statement said: “Kim Jong Un, president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), received a message of greeting from Elizabeth II, queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, on September 7.”

The message from the Queen read: “As the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea celebrate their national day, I send my good wishes for the future.”

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson confirmed to The Mirror the message was sent on behalf of the Queen.

The Kim regime have been in control of the nation since its establishment in 1948, with current tyrant Kim, 37, having become the third generation to assume when his father died in 2011.

North Korea celebrated its 73rd national since since its foundation last week, with a newly-slimline Kim Jong-un making a rare public appearance watching thousands of his troops march in Pyongyang.

He has been seen less frequently in recent months amid fears over his weight – with citizens reportedly banned from talking about his new look.

But he stood on full display as paramilitary and public security forces from the Worker-Peasant Red Guards marched in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung square, the official KCNA news agency said.

Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Worker’s Party’s newspaper, published photographs of people in orange hazmat suits with medical-grade masks in an apparent symbol of anti-coronavirus efforts, and troops holding rifles marching together.

Some conventional weapons were also on display, including multiple rocket launchers and tractors carrying anti-tank missiles.

But no ballistic missiles were seen or mentioned in the reports, and Kim did not deliver any speech, unlike last October when he boasted of the country’s nuclear capabilities and showcased previously unseen intercontinental ballistic missiles during a pre-dawn military parade.

The Queen’s message to the despot comes as fears are once again stoked the nation is testing missiles.

It was reported yesterday that North Korea claimed it successfully completed a test-fire for a new type of long-range cruise missile.

According to the secretive regime’s state media on Monday the missile flew 930 miles before hitting its target.

The weapons landed into the country’s own territorial waters with tests carried out on Saturday and Sunday, according to KCNA.

It was seen as the North’s first missile launch after it tested a new tactical short-range ballistic missile in March.

North Korea also conducted a cruise missile test just hours after US President Joe Biden took office in late January.

The latest test highlighted progress in Pyongyang’s weapons programme amid a gridlock over talks aimed at dismantling the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes in return for U.S. sanctions relief.

Those talks have stalled since 2019.

Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers’ Party’s official newspaper, published photos of the new long-range cruise missile flying and being fired from a transporter-erector-launcher.

The missile is a strategic weapon that has been developed over the past two years and a key element of a five-year plan outlined in January to advance defence science and arsenals, KCNA said.