Beijing – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is traveling to Beijing to attend a military parade alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s state media confirmed Tuesday. The gathering is expected to highlight growing alignment between the three nations amid heightened tensions with the United States.
Kim departed Pyongyang on Monday by special train, accompanied by senior officials including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). South Korean media reported that his train crossed into China at Dandong late Monday, with arrival in Beijing expected Tuesday.
The parade, scheduled for Wednesday, commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and China’s resistance against Japan’s wartime aggression. It will mark Kim’s first attendance at a multilateral international event in his 14 years of rule.
Putin arrived in China earlier this week for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and the parade. Kremlin officials have said a meeting between Putin and Kim is under consideration, though no trilateral summit with Xi has been confirmed.
Kim’s Beijing visit is his first since 2019, amid shifting alliances. In recent years, Pyongyang has drawn closer to Moscow, supplying weapons for Russia’s war in Ukraine in exchange for aid and military support. Relations with Beijing, meanwhile, have reportedly cooled, but analysts suggest Kim may use this trip to mend ties with China, North Korea’s largest trading partner.
The visit also comes against the backdrop of renewed calls from U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korea’s new President Lee Jae Myung to resume talks with Pyongyang—offers North Korea has so far rejected. Instead, Kim has pressed ahead with weapons development. Before leaving for China, he inspected a missile research institute working on engines for a “next-generation” intercontinental ballistic missile, which analysts believe could carry multiple nuclear warheads capable of overwhelming U.S. missile defense systems.
