Bashar al-Assad is to visit North Korea, Pyongyang state media has claimed, in what would be a first state visit to the isolated nation under the leadership of Kim Jong-un.The report by the official Korean Central News Agency did not say when the visit would be, but the two sanctions-hit nations have been allies for decades and Washington has accused the North of assisting Syria with its weapons programmes.

“I am going to visit the DPRK and meet HE Kim Jong-un,” Assad was quoted as saying, using an acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “HE” stands for “his excellency”. Kim has not hosted any other heads of state since coming to power in 2011 after the death of his father. In recent months he has met the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, in a flurry of diplomacy that is expected to culminate in a summit with Donald Trump in Singapore on 12 June. Kim has yet to host a foreign leader in , Pyongyang.

“The world welcomes the remarkable events in the Korean peninsula brought about recently by the outstanding political caliber and wise leadership of HE Kim Jong-un,” Assad was quoted as saying. “I am sure that he will achieve the final victory and realise the reunification of Korea without fail.”(theguardian)…[+]