North Korea’s Kim Jong Un travels to Beijing to watch military parade alongside Putin and Xi Jinping

SEOUL South Korea AP North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is heading to Beijing by train on Tuesday to attend a military parade with his Chinese and Russian counterparts North Korea s state media shared The event could potentially demonstrate their three-way unity against the United States Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among the world leaders who ll join Chinese President Xi Jinping to watch Wednesday s massive military parade in Beijing that commemorates the th anniversary of the end of World War II and China s fight against Japan s wartime aggressions While the event would mark Kim s first attendance of a major multilateral event during his -year rule it would also be the first time for Kim Xi and Putin all key challengers of the U S to gather at the same venue None of the three countries have authenticated a private trilateral leaders meeting The North s official Korean Central News Agency published early Tuesday that Kim left Pyongyang for Beijing by his special train on Monday to participate in the celebrations KCNA citing Foreign Ministry official Kim Chon Il declared that Kim Jong Un was traveling with top administrators including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui South Korean media disclosed Kim Jong Un s train was expected to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday after confirming its arrival in the Chinese demarcation city of Dandong on Monday night Kim s movement marks his first visit to China since and the fifth visit in total since he inherited power upon his father s death in late Putin arrived in China on Sunday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization a regional summit as well as the Beijing parade Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov narrated Russia s TASS news agency on Sunday that a meeting between Putin and Kim on the sidelines was under consideration North Korea observers are paying keen attention to Kim possibly meeting Xi bilaterally as well and holding even a trilateral meeting with Xi and Putin The three leaders have met bilaterally previously but have yet to hold a trilateral meeting North Korea s foreign strategy priority has been Russia in up-to-date years as it has been supplying troops and ammunition to endorsement Russia s war against Ukraine in exchange for economic and military assistance North Korea s relations with China have reportedly turned sour in modern years but experts say Kim likely hopes to restore ties as China is North Korea s biggest trading partner and aid benefactor and he would want to brace for the end of the Russia-Ukraine war Since aligning with Russia North Korea has become more vocal in international affairs beyond the Korean Peninsula issuing diplomatic statements on conflicts in the Middle East and in the Taiwan Strait while portraying itself as a part of a united front against Washington Various experts say Kim s presence at the multilateral event in Beijing is part of efforts to develop partnerships with other nations close to China and Russia Kim s trip comes as President Donald Trump and new liberal South Korean President Lee Jae Myung have repeatedly expressed their hopes to restart talks with North Korea North Korea has been shunning talks with the U S and South Korea and pushing to expand its nuclear and missile arsenals since Kim s earlier round of diplomacy with Trump collapsed in Before departing for China on Monday Kim visited a North Korean missile research institute to review progress on emerging a new engine for what it called a next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile KCNA revealed The North in modern years has tested various versions of ICBMs capable of reaching the U S mainland and analysts say the next-generation ICBM likely refers to a long-range weapon with multiple nuclear warheads that can defeat U S missile defense systems