Kim Jong Un to join Putin and other leaders in China’s military parade

North Korea leader Kim Jong -un will attend a military parade in Beijing next week, along with Russian Vladimir Putin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in what will be a remarkable visit.

This comes days after US President Donald Trump said he wants to meet Kim, who rarely makes foreign visits and while the White House tries to overcome a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

The Chinese Victory Day parade on September 3 will celebrate the 80th anniversary of Japan’s official broadcast during World War II and the end of the conflict.

The event is now signaling a key diplomatic victory for Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who insists on a new world order led by Beijing.

Putin and Kim will be among 26 other heads of state, which are expected to attend the parade. This is the first time the North Korean leader has visited a Chinese military parade since 1959.

China is likely to show its latest weapons, including hundreds of planes, tanks and anti-wisons. This will be the first time the new structure of its military forces is fully represented in a parade.

The highly choreographed event will see tens of thousands of military officials in a formation through the historic Tiananmanmen Square, with troops of 45 of the so -called echelons of the military in China, as well as war veterans.

The 70-minute parade, which will be examined by the XI, is expected to be closely monitored by analysts and Western forces.

At a press conference given by China’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday, Beijing – one of Pyongyang’s closest allies – praised their neighbor for their decade “Traditional Friendship” and said the two countries would continue to cooperate with “regional peace and stability”.

Kim’s visit is an upgrade from the latest parade of China’s Victory Day in 2015, when Pyongyang sent one of his best employees, Chow Ring-Hay.

This year’s event where Kim will stand with Putin and the XI will be significantly beyond the photo operative.

The surprising meeting will happen even when Donald Trump is trying to make a deal with Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. This allows the XI to signal its influence – albeit limited – both Putin and Kim.

This is also just weeks before Trump’s possible visit to Asia, which the White House hinted but has not been confirmed. However, he said the US president was open to an XI meeting to finalize the tariff deal, among other things.

The meeting next week with Putin and Kim allows the XI to enter each match with Trump with more confidence, being fully informed by both leaders.

It has been six years since Kim visited Beijing – last attended an event to mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries in 2019.

He also visited Beijing three times in 2018, a particularly busy year for international trips, given his unwillingness to travel abroad.

Most Western leaders are not expected to attend the parade because of their opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, causing sanctions on Putin’s regime.

Beijing, however, does not criticize Putin’s war and is accused by the United States and his allies for even helping him – which he denies. Kim, on the other hand, delivered both weapons and troops to the Russian invasion.

There is now the question of whether South Korea’s new president, Lee Jay Mun, will attend the parade, thus giving the first opportunity for North and South Korea leaders to meet since the 2019 relations collapsed.

Lee was invited but did not accept the invitation. South Korea’s presidential service has not yet commented on this. So far, the government has only confirmed that the Parliament chairman will be present.

Lee, who was selected in June, repeatedly says he would like to talk to Kim Jong Un and establish a peaceful relationship with the North. On Monday, when Lee met with President Trump in the Oval Cabinet, he asked Trump to act as a peacemaker on the Korean Peninsula. Lee also said he wanted to strengthen Beijing’s ties.

But North Korea has repeatedly criticized Lee, rejecting all his attempts to engage. It is yesterday that her state news agency KCNA marks Lee “confrontation maniac”.

While visiting the parade would be physically close to Kim, this is a risky move. If Kim publicly ignores or cancels South Korea leader, it would be a great embarrassment.

Lee’s optics, which appears to the presidents of Russia, Belarus and Iran, is also something that South Korea may want to avoid.

The list of leaders present at the parade also reflects the rise of China and changing relations with the world.

The President of Indonesia and the Prime Minister of Malaysia will be there, which is further proof of Beijing’s agreed efforts to increase ties with neighboring Southeast Asia. Others such as Singapore send representatives to a lower level.

Myanmar Men Ang Hlling’s military ruler, an international pave, which is extremely dependent on Chinese trade and assistance, will also be present.

There will be less employees of the European Union, with only one EU leader present – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fiko – while Bulgaria and Hungary will send representatives.

In contrast, Czech President Milos Zeman attended the parade in 2015, while Poland, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sent parliamentary speakers or government envoys to the parade.

Additional reporting from Ian Tang from BBC Monitoring