HONG KONG — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will make a rare international visit next week to attend a military parade in the Chinese capital, state media in both countries reported Thursday.
The parade in Beijing on Sept. 3 is being held to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
According to Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, heads of state and government from 26 countries will be at the parade, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. North Korean state media also confirmed Kim’s attendance.
Leaders from the United States and its allies are not among those expected to attend, partly out of protest over Putin’s continuing war against Ukraine.
The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry said that China and North Korea were “traditional friendly neighbors” and that the government “warmly” welcomed Kim to attend the event.
“During the arduous years of war, the peoples of China and North Korea supported each other and fought side by side against Japanese aggression, making important contributions to the victory of the global anti-fascist war and the cause of human justice,” Hong Lei, director-general of the ministry’s Department of Protocol, told reporters.
Other leaders Xinhua said were attending include Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military government in Myanmar.
Kim rarely leaves North Korea, which has been isolated by international sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
It was not immediately clear when he would leave for China or how long he would be there. Kim has not visited China, North Korea’s neighbor and biggest trading partner, since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
China-North Korea ties have been strained in recent years by North Korea’s growing partnership with Russia, where North Korea has sent artillery and troops to support Moscow in its war against Ukraine. Experts say that in exchange Russia may be providing advanced military technology that North Korea could use for its weapons programs.
“North Korea is seeking to strengthen ties with China following its moves with Russia, thereby showcasing socialist solidarity among North Korea, China and Russia,” Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, South Korea, told NBC News.
Kim’s last overseas trip was in September 2023, when he and Putin met at a spaceport in Russia’s Far East. Putin also made a trip to Pyongyang, where he and Kim signed a mutual defense pact in June 2024.
President Donald Trump, who had three in-person meetings with Kim during his first term, has repeatedly expressed interest in reviving denuclearization talks that broke down in 2019, including during a White House summit Monday with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
North Korea has dismissed the idea, saying Trump must accept it as a nuclear state.
