Kim will meet with Xi and Putin at Chinese military parade

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will make his first visit to China in six years to attend a military parade next week, the two countries said yesterday, in an event that would bring him together with a large group of world leaders for the first time since taking office in late 2011.

With Russian President Vladimir Putin also coming for the parade, the event will underline the three-way alignment among Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang in the face of a U.S. push to bolster its alliances with South Korea and Japan.

North Korea’s state media said Kim was invited to visit China by President Xi Jinping. Kim will be among 26 foreign leaders who attend next Wednesday’s parade in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and China’s resistance against Japan’s wartime aggressions, China’s foreign ministry said.

“We warmly welcome General Secretary Kim Jong Un to China to attend the commemorative events,” Hong Lei, China’s assistant minister of foreign affairs, told a press conference. “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.”

DPRK refers to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

Since inheriting power upon his father’s death in December 2011, Kim has met Xi, Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump, former South Korean President Moon Jae-in and others. But all those summits were bilateral meetings and Kim hasn’t attended any big multilateral events with foreign leaders.

“Given that other leaders attending are mostly from pro-Russia and pro-Chinese countries, Kim likely intends to form solidarity with those Global South countries while showing he’s leader of a normal country,” said Moon Seong Mook, an analyst for the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.

Observers say Kim is likely emboldened by his country’s expanding cooperation with Russia, which has helped him bear the brunt of U.S.-led sanctions and break out of diplomatic isolation. North Korea has been supplying troops and ammunition to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in return for economic and military assistance.

Others coming for the parade include the leaders of Iran, Belarus, Serbia, Cuba, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Malaysia. No leaders from major Western countries including the U.S. are expected to attend, in part because of their differences with Putin over the war in Ukraine. The parade is expected to feature some of China’s newest weaponry and a speech by Xi.

China, North Korea and Russia are embroiled in separate confrontations with the U.S., but they haven’t formed a clear three-way alliance so far.

Xi, Putin and Kim haven’t met in trilateral formats, though they’ve met one another bilaterally.

“Kim’s attendance is significant for his own international stature, but it also holds weight in the balance of alliances between the U.S. and China,” said Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst. “Xi, Putin, and now Kim attending the parade cements a visible statement about the alignment between the three countries.”

The three leaders likely share desires to check the strengthening cooperation among the U.S., South Korea and Japan, which have been meeting regularly and expanding trilateral military exercises. Despite their shared goals, it’s not clear how far China, North Korea and Russia will go to further cement ties. HYUNG-JIN KIM, BEIJING, MDT/AP