North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent condolences to Syrian President Bashar Assad in response to the earthquake that struck the country earlier this week, according to the North Korean Foreign Ministry.

A massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake with several powerful aftershocks shook parts of Turkey and Syria, on Monday morning, toppling thousands of homes and killing over 8,000 people in both countries.

Many world leaders and international organizations offered assistance to the Turkish and Syrian authorities to address the consequences of the disaster. However, while Western nations swarmed to help Turkey, they excluded war-torn Syria. 

Read next: Major quake kills hundreds across Turkey, Syria
 
"In the message, the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, on behalf of the DPRK government and people and on his own behalf, expressed deep sympathy and condolences to the president and, through him, to the government and people of the Syrian Arab Republic and the inhabitants in the afflicted areas upon the news that heavy casualties and material losses were caused by a strong earthquake in the northwestern part of Syria," the DPRK's Foreign Ministry said. 
 
The North Korean leader also expressed confidence that, under Assad's leadership, the Syrian government and people would repair the earthquake damage as soon as possible, and the lives of those affected would be stabilized, according to the ministry.

Selective humanity 

In these defining moments and amid this humanitarian catastrophe, it was expected that all political rifts and rivalries would be brought aside for a short while at least, mainly because the destructive event has directly affected civilians. However, Syria was largely ignored by Western countries, as Syria has for years been under US sanctions and direct US occupation.

Following the earthquakes, several Western countries mobilized rapidly to send aid and rescue workers to Turkey, but decided to exclude Syria and neglect it, by only offering condolences and merely expressing readiness to support the affected Syrians, with nothing done on the ground, in a clear show of double standards.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake on February 6 struck Turkey and Syria, killing more than 8,000, leveling houses while many were still sleeping, and spreading shocks as far away as the island of Cyprus.