North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will make a rare trip abroad next week to attend China’s military parade celebrating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, appearing alongside Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in what would be his first appearance on a multilateral diplomatic stage.
North Korea’s state media said on Thursday that Kim will travel to Beijing at the invitation of Chinese President Xi to join commemorations of “the victory of the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japan and the world anti-fascist war.”
The celebrations, including a large-scale military parade on Sept. 3, are expected to draw 26 foreign leaders, according to China’s foreign ministry.
Among the invitees to the event is South Korean National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik.
The Kremlin confirmed that Russian President Putin will be in China from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3, raising the prospect of a three-way summit with Xi and Kim.
Political analysts said the gathering of the three leaders is meant to tighten alignment of Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang as relations between Washington and its Asian allies, including Seoul, deepen.
KIM’S FIRST OVERSEAS APPEARANCE SINCE PANDEMIC BLOCKADE
Kim’s trip will be his first to China since 2019 and his first overseas appearance since the COVID-19 pandemic sealed North Korea’s borders.
Analysts said Kim’s Beijing trip marks a potential turning point in Pyongyang’s diplomacy, signaling his intent to break out of isolation by embedding North Korea more firmly in an anti-US bloc led by China and Russia.
“Kim is stepping onto a multilateral stage for the first time,” said a Seoul-based diplomat. “This is a deliberate move to show that North Korea is not alone, and that it has powerful backers.”
The visit also risks sharpening geopolitical polarization in Northeast Asia.
The prospect of Xi, Putin and Kim sharing a platform has heightened concerns of a “new cold war” in the region, pitting the US, South Korea and Japan more squarely against their northern neighbors, according to political pundits.
SEOUL CLOSES RANKS WITH THE US
Seoul confirmed it was aware of Kim’s travel plans in advance.
Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said on Thursday that the government hoped China would play a constructive role in fostering stability.
“We expect our relations with Beijing to evolve in a direction that supports peace and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” he said, while stressing that “channels for dialogue and cooperation between the two Koreas remain open.”
The meeting of Kim, Xi and Putting comes as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is closing ranks with US President Donald Trump.
On the sidelines of Lee’s summit with Trump in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, the South Korean leader signaled Seoul’s end to “security with the US and economy with China” policy.
Lee said South Korea can no longer maintain its decades-old strategy of relying on Washington for security while deepening economic ties with Beijing – a significant shift in Seoul’s foreign policy at a time of intensifying US-China rivalry.
China has expressed displeasure over Lee’s remarks.
By In-Soo Nam
isnam@hankyung.com
Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.
