SEOUL, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a message to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressing his condolences over the recent series of deadly earthquakes in western Japan, state media reported Saturday, a rare move apparently aimed at painting himself as a global leader.

Kim sent the message to Kishida on Friday, expressing “deep sympathy” and “condolences” over the casualties and losses caused by the earthquakes at the start of the year, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“The message sincerely hoped that the people in the affected areas would eradicate the aftermath of earthquakes and restore their stable life at the earliest date possible,” it said in an English-language dispatch.

North Korea, let alone its reclusive leader, rarely sends such messages to countries that it does not consider friendly.

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake hit Ishikawa prefecture on New Year’s Day and was followed by a series of aftershocks that have left at least 94 people killed,
according to reports.

Kim also sent a separate message to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi the same day to express condolences over deadly terrorist bomb attacks in Iran earlier this week.

At least 84 people were killed in Iran’s southeastern city of Kerman after two explosions went off Wednesday at a ceremony to commemorate Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the United States in 2020.

Source: Yonhap News Agency