North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed into China by train on Tuesday, heading to Beijing for a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
He also has meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Why It Matters
Neighboring China has been North Korea’s steadfast ally and most important trade partner for decades, although since coming to power in 2012, Kim has sought to rebalance North Korea’s great power ties by investing in more robust relations with Russia.
He oversaw a new chapter in this endeavor last year when he ordered the deployment of up to 15,000 troops, according to South Korean estimates, along with artillery rounds and missiles, to support Russian forces in its invasion of Ukraine.
Kim, like his father and grandfather before him, both of whom led North Korea, rarely travels abroad and this is his first visit to China in six years.
Kim’s expected meeting with Xi and Putin will be a symbolically important show of unity by three leaders who all vehemently opposed to a global order dominated by the United States.
What To Know
Kim set off for China by train on Monday from Pyongyang and crossed the border overnight, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
“His train passed the border early in the morning on September 2,” KCNA said.
Kim, “accompanied by major leading officials” of North Korea’s ruling party and government, is travelling to China “to participate in celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War at the invitation of Xi Jinping,” it said.
Xi and his guests, including the leaders of 26 counties, are expected to survey tens of thousands of People’s Liberation Army troops parading with some of their most advanced weaponry at Tiananmen Square for the parade on Wednesday.
No leaders from the U.S. or other major Western countries are expected to attend, in part because of their differences with Putin over the war in Ukraine.
“The parade will feature a wide range of weapons and equipment, many of which will be unveiled for the first time,” China’s Xinhua news agency quoted the deputy director of the Chinese office organizing the parade, Wu Zeke, as saying last week.
“The event will highlight the Chinese military’s recent advancements in modernization and enhanced combat readiness,” Xinhua reported.
Kim’s reaffirmation of his close ties with Xi and Putin comes amid speculation that President Donald Trump might try to revive dialogue with Kim that they undertook in 2018 and 2019.
Trump met Kim three times during his first term in office in an unsuccessful bid to press him to give up his nuclear weapons. Trump said last week that he looked forward to meeting Kim again at an appropriate time.
North Korea, which is officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DRPK), has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006 and has dismissed all efforts by its neighbor, South Korea, and the U.S. to negotiate an end to its missile and nuclear programs.
What People Are Saying
Senior North Korean foreign ministry official Kim Chon Il said in a statement on Monday denouncing the U.S. and its two east Asian allies, Japan and South Korea: “The more the U.S. persists in its anachronistic and malicious hostile acts against the DPRK through the intensified collaboration with its satellite countries, the more distrust and hostility will be piled up between the DPRK and the U.S.”
Hong Lei, China’s assistant minister of foreign affairs, said during a press conference last Thursday: “China and the DPRK are traditional friendly neighbors connected by mountains and rivers…Upholding, consolidating and developing the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK is a firm position of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government.”
What Happens Next?
Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told Russian media on Saturday that Kim will sit on Xi’s left side during Wednesday’s parade, with Putin in the place of honor on the right.
Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to this article.
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