King Charles congratulates North Korea's Kim on the country's founding anniversary

King Charles III of England, sent a congratulatory message to North Korea's Kim Jong Un on the 75th anniversary of the country's founding. 

Queen Elizabeth II, too, sent a similar message to North Korea in 2021. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said that it was “standard practice” for national days across the world and “has been done before”.

In September 2022, the UK sent an invite to North Korea to send a representative for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral.

Kim reportedly received messages from leaders of several nations including Singapore, Nepal, Bahrain and Mozambique for the 75th anniversary of the country's founding.

King of Sweden Carl ⅩⅥ Gustaf also sent a congratulatory message to Kim. 

The country, which has been under the rule of the Kim family for about seven decades, marked the anniversary with a paramilitary parade, attended by Kim Jong Un and his daughter Kim Ju Ae.

Kim also received congratulatory letters from China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Industrial workers too marched down Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang as part of the parade, KCNA reported.

A Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu Guozhong, and visiting members of the Russian Army Academic Ensemble Alexandrov attended the event. 

Putin, in his letter, wrote that relations between the two countries have “invariably developed on the principle of friendship, good neighbourliness and mutual respect,” adding that he believes they will “expand the bilateral ties in all respects in a planned way by pooling efforts.”

In his letter, Xi indicated that China was keen to deepen the working-level cooperation and promote relations between China and North Korea.