Kim to attend parade in Beijing

Kim Jong-un, North Korea's leader, will visit Beijing to attend a massive military parade next week, in a move to reinforce ties with China at a time when Mr Kim is being courted by both the United States and South Korea for dialogue.

- 

Mr Kim was invited by President Xi Jinping of China to attend the Sept 3 military parade, which will commemorate the end of the Sino-Japanese War and World War II, their governments said yesterday. Russian President Vladimir Putin will also be there, raising the likelihood of Mr Kim holding summit meetings with Mr Xi and Mr Putin, two of his country’s most important allies.

Beijing said the leaders of some of the largest economies in Asia — like Indonesia and Malaysia — and more than 20 other nations also planned to attend the parade, providing Mr Kim with his first opportunity to step onto a major multilateral diplomatic arena.

This will be Mr Kim's first trip to Beijing since January 2019. Mr Kim last met with Mr Xi when the Chinese leader visited Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, in June 2019. Mr Putin met Mr Kim in Pyongyang in June 2024, when both leaders restored a Cold War-era alliance treaty of mutual defense and cooperation.