The United States and South Korea are offering their help to North Korea to fight the Covid-19 epidemic there.
Following a summit in Seoul between US Presidents Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, they said on Saturday "ready to work with the international community to provide assistance"
in Pyongyang, according to a statement.
The two leaders expressed their "concern" about the recent outbreak of Covid-19 in North Korea.
Joe Biden also indicated that the United States had offered to offer vaccines against Covid-19 to North Korea, as well as to China, but "did not obtain a response".
North Korea, whose population is not vaccinated against Covid-19, is currently facing an epidemic outbreak, with nearly 2.6 million cases and 66 deaths, according to the latest official figures released on Saturday.
"Enhanced" military cooperation
In addition, the United States and South Korea want to strengthen their military cooperation in order to counter the growing "threat" from North Korea, the presidents of the two countries have also said, while Pyongyang has accelerated its military program and seems prepare for a nuclear test.
“Given the evolution of the threat posed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, the official acronym of North Korea, editor's note), the two leaders agree to begin discussions with a view to broadening the scope and scale of joint military exercises and training in and around the Korean Peninsula," according to a joint statement released after the summit.
The statement comes as South Korean intelligence services have warned that North Korea has completed preparations to carry out a nuclear test, which would be the seventh in its history and the first in five years.
