PYONGYANG, May 8. /TASS/. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has extended a verbal message to Chinese President Xi Jinping praising all efforts of the authorities of China to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

"Kim Jong-un in his message extended his warm greetings to Xi Jinping and congratulated him, highly appreciating that he is seizing a chance of victory in the war against the unprecedented epidemic and strategically and tactically controlling the overall situation while leading the Chinese party and people," the agency reported.

"Saying that he was pleased over the successes made in China as over his own, Kim Jong-un wished Xi Jinping good health, expressing conviction that the Chinese party and people would cement the successes made so far and steadily expand them and thus win a final victory under the wise guidance of Xi Jinping," according to KCNA.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 3,900,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 270,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 1,340,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.