North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has offered his personal condolences to "compatriots" in the South over an ongoing outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), in a letter to President Moon Jae-in delivered on Wednesday.

The letter, made public by South Korea's Blue House at a briefing to press on Thursday, notably, saw Kim praise his "unwavering friendship and trust" in his Southern counterpart, despite over a year of inter-Korean acrimony.