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International media reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has left Pyongyang for China, where he is expected to participate in Beijing's military parade known as "Victory Day."
The parade takes place on Wednesday in Tiananmen Square and will pit Kim against Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and a host of other world leaders. It will be Kim Jong Un's first multilateral international summit.
According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, he left Pyongyang on Monday night in his armored train, which includes a restaurant with French wines and luxury foods such as fresh humbula. Due to high security, the train travels at low speed and the journey to Beijing is expected to take up to 24 hours.
This is the first time a North Korean leader has attended a Chinese military parade since 1959. Kim will join 26 other heads of state, including from Myanmar, Iran and Cuba. At the last such parade in 2015, Pyongyang sent just one senior official, Choe Ryong-hae.
His trip to China also marks his first major international outing since meetings with Vladimir Putin, with whom he met twice after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. His last visit to Beijing was in 2019, for the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries – even then by train.
The tradition of train travel began with his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, who visited Vietnam and Eastern Europe in this way. His father, Kim Jong Il, also used armored trains, as he was afraid of flying. According to South Korean media, Kim Jong Un's train has about 90 carriages, equipped with meeting rooms, bedrooms and waiting areas.
Tens of thousands of soldiers will march through historic Tiananmen Square in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. The 70-minute ceremony is expected to showcase for the first time the Chinese military's new military structure, complete with modern weapons: jets, tanks and anti-drone systems.
Most Western leaders will not attend, due to opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and sanctions on Putin's regime. But in addition to Xi and Putin, the leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam will also be in Beijing - another sign of China's push to strengthen ties with Southeast Asia. From the European Union, only Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico will attend, while Bulgaria and Hungary will be represented by smaller delegations.
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