NK leader Kim sends New Year's message to Putin, calls bilateral ties 'precious common asset'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a message of greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of New Year's Day, calling the two countries' relations a "precious common asset," the North's state media said Saturday. In the message, Kim described this year as a "meaningful" one when the two countries "steadily wrote a great biography of the alliance" through "full mutual support and selfless encouragement," according to the Korean Central News Agency. Kim's greeting came after Putin h