Beijing, 2 Sept — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is traveling to Beijing by train to attend a massive military parade alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, state media reported Tuesday. The parade, set for Wednesday, commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and China’s fight against Japan.
Kim’s visit marks his first foreign trip since 2019 and the fifth since taking power in 2011. It will also be the first time Kim, Xi and Putin — all three seen as major challengers to the United States — appear together at the same venue. North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency said Kim departed Pyongyang on Monday accompanied by senior officials, including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui. His train was spotted crossing into the Chinese border city of Dandong late Monday, with his arrival in Beijing expected Tuesday.
Putin arrived in China on Sunday for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit as well as the Beijing parade. Kremlin officials have said a Putin-Kim meeting is “under consideration,” though no trilateral session with Xi has been confirmed. South Korean analysts say Kim may use the trip to restore strained ties with China, North Korea’s largest trading partner and key aid provider, while strengthening alignment with Moscow.
Kim’s foreign policy in recent years has tilted toward Russia, with Pyongyang providing troops and ammunition for Moscow’s war in Ukraine in exchange for military and economic support. The partnership has made North Korea more active in global affairs, issuing statements on Middle East conflicts and tensions in the Taiwan Strait while framing itself as part of a united front against Washington.
Analysts also note the timing of Kim’s trip. It comes as the Biden administration and South Korea’s new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, have called for a resumption of talks with Pyongyang. Since the collapse of Kim’s diplomacy with former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019, North Korea has accelerated nuclear and missile development while rejecting dialogue.
Hours before his departure Monday, Kim visited a missile research institute in North Korea, where he reviewed work on a new engine for what state media described as a “next-generation” intercontinental ballistic missile. Experts believe this weapon could carry multiple nuclear warheads designed to evade U.S. missile defenses.
