Jennifer Jett is the Asia Digital Editor for NBC News, based in Hong Kong.
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, Chinese state media 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. 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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs said 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. 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 on Monday with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. North Korea has dismissed the idea, saying Trump must accept it as a nuclear state.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Kim Jong Un's sister: Trump must accept North Korea as nuclear weapons stateStella Kim is an NBC News freelance producer based in Seoul.
Read more »
Who is Kim Yo Jong, sister and 'right hand' of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un?Kim Yo Jong has been described as a mouthpiece for her brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — and a potential successor.
Read more »
Kim Yo Jong takes center stage as North Korea plays nicer with US, scorns SouthPolitical News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government
Read more »
North Korea's Kim Jong Un Oversees New 'Unique and Special' Missile TestThe newly-tested air-defense missiles 'are very suitable for destroying various aerial targets,' North Korean state media reported.
Read more »
Trump tells South Korean president he wants to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong UnPresident Donald Trump is willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, he told his South Korean counterpart on Monday when they discussed peace in the Korean Peninsula and Pyongyang’s nuclear weapon capabilities.
Read more »
Trump tells South Korean president he wants to meet North Korea's Kim Jong UnPresident Donald Trump is willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, he told his South Korean counterpart during a meeting on Monday
Read more »