Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a “verbal message of thanks” to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Beijing’s state media reported, offering the DPRK help in its work fighting the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The note came in response to Kim’s own rare “verbal message” to Xi on Friday, in which the DPRK leader was reported to have congratulated his Chinese counterpart on his “success” in the fight against the pandemic.

China, Xi was reported to have told Kim on Saturday, is “willing to enhance anti-epidemic cooperation with the DPRK