North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a letter to Queen Elizabeth II, congratulating her for reaching 70 years on the throne.
The UK has begun a four-day celebration programme to mark the monarch's historic platinum jubilee.
Mr Kim sent a letter congratulating the queen and the British people, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on its website on Thursday.
He joined world leaders in paying tribute to the queen, including French President Emmanuel Macron, US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Mr Macron told the sovereign, 96, of the “deep affection and admiration” that the French people hold for her.
North Korea and the UK established diplomatic relations in 2000 and have maintained embassies in each other’s capitals, despite strained bilateral ties.
North Korea’s relations with the West have worsened in recent years as it accelerated its nuclear weapons and missile development in a push to acquire an arsenal that could threaten the US and its allies in Asia.
North Korea has criticised the UK in recent years for supporting international sanctions against the North over its nuclear ambitions and human rights record, and for participating in a new US-led alliance to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
North Korea has conducted 17 rounds of missile tests in 2022, including its first inter-continental ballistic missile launches in nearly five years, as it pushes brinkmanship aimed at cementing its status as a nuclear power and negotiating economic and security concessions from a position of strength.
US and South Korean officials say there are signs North Korea is preparing to conduct its first test of a nuclear explosive device since 2017.
In pictures: Queen Elizabeth II with world leaders through the years
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Sheikh Zayed, the Founding President, meets Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in June 1969. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as they meet for an audience at Windsor Castle in March 2022. AFP -
Queen Elizabeth receives Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said of Oman during an audience at Windsor Castle in December 2021. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth with US President Joe Biden in the Grand Corridor during their visit to Windsor Castle in June 2021. Getty Images -
French President Emmanuel Macron and Queen Elizabeth chat as they arrive at a reception for the queen at The Eden Project in Cornwall, during the G7 Summit in June 2021. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Queen Rania during a private audience at Buckingham Palace in February 2019. Getty Images -
Former US president Donald Trump and Queen Elizabeth inspect a Guard of Honour at Windsor Castle in July 2018. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth greets Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand, in the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace in April 2018. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth greets Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia during a private audience at Buckingham Palace in March 2018. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth meets the Sultan of Brunei during a private audience at Buckingham Palace in December 2017. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth and King Felipe VI of Spain ride in a carriage during a state visit by the king and queen of Spain, at Buckingham Palace in July 2017. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip pose with Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez ahead of a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in November 2016. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Buckingham Palace in November 2015. Getty Images -
President of China Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan accompany Queen Elizabeth as they arrive for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in October 2015. Getty Images -
President of Mexico Enrique Pena Nieto is shown Mexican items in the Royal Collection by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in March 2015. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth walks around the Paris Flower Market with former French president Francois Hollande in June 2014. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth shows Irish President Michael D Higgins Irish related items from the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle in April 2014. It was the first official visit by an Irish head of state to the UK. Getty Images -
Pope Francis welcomes Queen Elizabeth for a private audience during a visit to Rome in April 2014. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth meets former German chancellor Angela Merkel at Buckingham Palace in February 2014. Getty Images -
Former president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai attends an audience with Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in October 2013. Getty Images -
UAE President Sheikh Khalifa with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in April 2013. Getty Images -
Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, poses with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in November 2012. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip greet Bahrain's King Hamad as he arrives at Windsor Castle in May 2012. Getty Images -
Former US President Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth and Michelle Obama arrive at Winfield House, London, the residence of the ambassador of the US, in May 2011. Getty Images -
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi in November 2010. Andrew Henderson/The National -
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and Queen Elizabeth greet spectators at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi in November 2010. Andrew Henderson/The National -
Queen Elizabeth walks towards her plane with former Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said Al Said, at Muscat Airport in November 2010. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip walk with Pope Benedict XVI to the Morning Drawing Room in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland, in September 2010. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth with the former president of India, Prathibha Devi Singh Patil, as she arrived in Windsor for a state visit in October 2009. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth accompanied by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a David Beckham-signed football to a Turkish boy at a garden party held for her birthday at the British Embassy in Ankara in May 2008. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in October 2007. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth chats to former French president Jacques Chirac at Gleneagles, Scotland, in July 2005. Getty Images -
Former US president George W. Bush, Queen Elizabeth, Laura Bush and Prince Philip pose in the music room at Buckingham Palace in November 2003. Getty Images -
Russian President Vladimir Putin is accompanied by Queen Elizabeth during a procession on The Mall, London, in June 2003. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth with the late president Nelson Mandela of South Africa riding in a carriage on The Mall in London, in July 1996. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip sit with former US president Bill Clinton at a banquet held at Portsmouth Guildhall in June 1994. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are greeted by former US president George Bush and Barbara Bush at the White House during a state visit to the US in May 1991. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth and Li Xiannian, the former president of China, standing outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in October 1986. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are met by former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and president Zail Singh at Palam Airport during a tour of India in November 1983. Getty Images -
Former US president Ronald Reagan and Queen Elizabeth at a gala dinner at Windsor Castle in June 1982. Getty Images -
The late Pope John Paul II with Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in May 1982. Getty Images -
Former US president Gerald Ford dancing with Queen Elizabeth at a ball at the White House during the Bicentennial Celebrations of the Declaration of Independence, in July 1976. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth with then Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito during a state visit to Yugoslavia in October 1972. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip pictured with former French president Georges Pompidou and his wife Claude Pompidou at the British Embassy in Paris in May 1972. Getty Images -
Former US president Richard Nixon, Queen Elizabeth, and former British prime minister Edward Heath walking in the rose garden at Chequers, the prime minister's official residence in England, in October 1970. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth stands next to former president Heinrich Lubke of West Germany in Bonn during a state visit in May 1965. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip meeting Pope John XXIII at the Vatican in May 1961. Getty Images -
Prince Philip, Princess Anne, former US president Dwight D. Eisenhower, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Capt John Eisenhower, at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, in September 1959. Getty Images -
West German President Theodor Heuss travels by landau from Victoria Station in London to Buckingham Palace, accompanied by Queen Elizabeth, in October 1958. Getty Images -
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip smiling as former US president Harry Truman gives a speech in Washington, in November 1951. Getty Images
