North Korean Leader to Attend China’s Military Parade Next Week

Aug 29, 2025 - 10:02

Updated: 9 months ago

North Korean Leader to Attend China’s Military Parade Next Week

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will attend a grand military parade in Beijing next week, the two countries announced on Aug. 28. The event offers Kim a rare opportunity to appear in public alongside his Russian and Chinese counterparts.

A total of 26 foreign heads of state and governments will attend the Sept. 3 parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Hong Lei, China’s assistant minister of foreign affairs, said at a briefing in Beijing.

North Korea’s state media KCNA has confirmed Kim’s attendance, stating that his visit to Beijing was at the invitation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

A formal treaty ally and major trading partner, China has hosted the North Korean communist leader on multiple occasions in the past. Between 2018 and 2019, Kim made four trips to China. His last visit was in January 2019, ahead of a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump expressed openness to restarting talks with Kim while hosting South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the White House on Aug. 25.

Leaders from major Western countries, including the United States, will be absent from the Sept. 3 parade.

Beijing’s guest list features Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim, as well as leaders from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Mongolia.

Other attendees include Iranian leader Masoud Pezeshkian, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is the only leader from the European Union and NATO set to attend.

The 70-minute parade is part of the events that Beijing said commemorate China’s victory over Japan’s invasion and the global fight against fascism. The CCP leader is slated to deliver a speech, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Observers have criticized the commemoration as a distortion of history, pointing out that the Nationalist Party, which governed China at that time, led the fight against Japanese forces during the war.

The nationalist government retreated to Taiwan after being defeated in the Chinese civil war in 1949, while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started its one-party rule on the mainland and has since claimed self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory.

Taiwan has banned all government officials from attending the parade and other Sept. 3 events, a measure it deemed necessary to prevent the CCP from leveraging these events to advance its agenda and sow discord.

The city of Beijing increased security measures ahead of the first rehearsal for the parade on Aug. 9. Petitioners from various cities across the nation have reported being harassed by local police or being placed into detention facilities to avoid potential embarrassment for the CCP.