Xi and Putin send greetings to Kim Jong Un on North Korea’s founding anniversary

SEOUL, South Korea — Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin sent greetings to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the occasion of North Korea’s founding anniversary, state media KCNA said Monday.

“I am sure that the comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and the DPRK will be strengthened in a planned way thanks to our joint efforts,” Putin said, according to KCNA.

DPRK is short for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name.

Xi called for deeper strategic communication and cooperation with North Korea in his message, KCNA said.

Last year, Kim marked the country’s founding day on Sept. 9 with a parade of paramilitary groups and diplomatic exchanges in which he vowed to deepen ties with China and Russia.

On Sunday, Kim underscored the importance of strengthening naval power as he toured a naval base construction site, KCNA reported.

“Now that we are soon to possess large surface warships and submarines which cannot be anchored by the existing facilities for mooring warships, the construction of a naval base for running the latest large warships has become a pressing task,” Kim was quoted as saying.

During the tour, Kim stressed the need to build a naval port capable of operating weapons systems of the warships and revealed military measures to deploy anti-aircraft and coastal defense systems for defending the port, according to the report.

Kim cited geopolitical advantages of the site for the country, bordered by the sea on both the east and west sides. The location of the site was not specified in the report.

Meanwhile, North Korea continued its campaign of launching trash balloons toward South Korea for the fifth consecutive day on Sunday, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.