North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is travelling to Beijing in China today, September 2, to join 26 world leaders to witness the massive military parade in the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin is also among the guests who would be attending the multilateral evening. Beijing today commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and China’s fight against Japan’s wartime aggressions.
This is the first time Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin – all key challengers of the United States – are attending an event together.
South Korean media reported Kim Jong Un’s train was expected to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday after confirming its arrival in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Monday night. Kim’s travel marks his first visit to China since 2019 and the fifth visit in total since he inherited power upon his father’s death in late 2011.
Vladimir Putin is already in China where he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional summit. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russia’s TASS news agency on Sunday that a meeting between Putin and Kim on the sidelines was “under consideration.”
THE PARADE AND SHOW OF UNITY
Over 25 leaders are set to attend Wednesday’s parade at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, commemorating 80 years since World War II ended.
China has touted the parade as a show of unity with other countries, and Kim’s attendance will be the first time he has been seen with Xi and Putin at the same event.
During the SCO Summit, Xi Jinping had on Monday had slammed the “bullying behaviour” from certain countries – apparently a dig to the United States – while Putin defended Russia’s Ukraine offensive, blaming the West for triggering the conflict.
Security around Beijing has tightened in recent days and weeks, with road closures, military personnel stationed on bridges and street corners, and miles upon miles of white barriers lining the capital’s wide boulevards.
Art installations with flowers, doves and an emblem showing the Great Wall of China with “1945-2025” have cropped up around the city, and on Tuesday morning Chinese flags flew in residential neighbourhoods.
