Seoul, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un North Korean state media said he was attending a military parade with his Chinese and Russian counterparts on trains heading to Beijing on Tuesday. Events can potentially show them Three-way unified against the United States.
Kim and the Russian President Vladimir Putin It’s in it 26 world leaders Who will join the Chinese president? xi Jinping A watch on Wednesday’s massive military parade in Beijing commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Chinese battle against Japan’s wartime attacks.
Although the event will mark Kim’s first attendance at a major multilateral event His 14-year rules, It is also the first time that all of the important challengers in the US, Kim, XI and Putin, have gathered at the same venue. No leader has confirmed the private trilateral meeting.
Northern South Korea Central News Agency reported early Tuesday that Kim would be leaving Pyongyang for Beijing on a special train on Monday to participate in the celebration. Kcna said she was traveling with senior officials including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, citing Kim Chon Il, a civil servant at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
South Korean media reported that Kim’s train was expected to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday after confirming that it had arrived in the Chinese border city of Dangdon on Monday night.
Kim’s trip marks his first visit to China since 2019 and his fifth visit in total since he inherited power when his father passed away in late 2011.
Putin arrived in China on Sunday and attended Shanghai Cooperative Organizationregional summits, and Beijing parade. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian news agency on Sunday that a meeting with Kim about bystanders was “under consideration.”
North Korean observers have paid a keen attention to Kim about holding a trilateral meeting with Xi and Putin that Kim could also meet Xi. The three leaders had previously met bilaterally, but have not yet held a trilateral meeting.
North Korea’s foreign policy priorities have been Russia in recent years, as it has supplied military and ammunition. Supporting the Russian war against Ukraine in exchange for economic and military aid. North Korea’s ties with China have reportedly become sour in recent years, but experts say it is likely that Kim wants to restore bonds as China is North Korea’s biggest trading partner, supports its benefactors and supports its benefactors and supports the end of the Russian-Ukraine war.
Since its integration with Russia, North Korea has become more vocal on international issues across the Korean Peninsula, portraying it as part of the united front against Washington, publishing a diplomatic statement on conflicts in the Middle East and the Taiwan Straits. Some experts say Kim’s presence at Beijing’s multilateral event is part of an effort to develop partnerships with other countries close to China and Russia.
Kim’s trip will come as President Donald Trump and the new liberal South Korean president Lee Jae Myung They have repeatedly expressed their hopes to resume consultations with North Korea. North Korea has been shunned from the US and South Korea, and has pushed to expand its nuclear and missile arsenals since Kim’s previous round Diplomacy with Trump It collapsed in 2019.
Before departing for China on Monday, Kim visited the North Korean missiles laboratory to review the progress in the development of a new rocket engine made of carbon fiber composite material that North will be using in intercontinental ballistic missiles, KCNA reported. In recent years, the North has announced various versions of ICBMS that show potential ranges to reach the US mainland during test flights.
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Associated Press Writer Kim Tong-Hyung contributed to this report.
