North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping bid farewell at Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang after the latter's visit to North Korea in this June 2019 photo. / Korea Times file

By Kang Seung-woo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's verbal message to Chinese President Xi Jinping praising Beijing's COVID-19 success was aimed at revitalizing the virus-dented bilateral economic ties, experts said, Friday.

According to Pyongyang's state-run news organization Korean Central News Agency, Friday, Kim "congratulated Xi, highly appreciating that he is seizing a chance of victory in the war against the unprecedented epidemic."

"Kim wished Xi Jinping good health, expressing conviction that the Chinese Communist Party and people would cement the success made so far and steadily expand it and thus win a final victory under the wise guidance of Xi," it added. However, it did not specify when and how the message has been delivered to the Chinese leader.

The report came as the coronavirus pandemic has devastated the North's economy mainly due to its border closure with China, which is the country's chief ― or almost only ― ally and economic lifeline, according to the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS). Bilateral trade with China accounts for about 95 percent of the North's total trade value.

In the wake of COVID-19, the North Korean regime sealed off its border in January.

"For the North, reviving the economy is the most pressing and important matter, and without economic cooperation with China, the North Korean regime cannot exist," said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University.

"All things considered, the North intends to break through the economic woes by normalizing the bilateral economic cooperation. In that respect, Kim sent the message to Xi."