BEIJING (Kyodo) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un entered China aboard a special train early Tuesday to attend events in Beijing the following day commemorating 80 years since Japan’s formal surrender in World War II, North Korea’s state-run media said.
Kim last visited China in January 2019. He will observe a military parade in the capital’s Tiananmen Square together with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other foreign guests including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The North Korean leader is accompanied by senior officials including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui. Kim is expected to hold talks with Xi on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea’s nuclear program as well as bilateral economic cooperation.
The train carrying Kim departed Pyongyang for China on Monday afternoon and was expected to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday, according to South Korean media reports.
In Dandong, a border city in northeastern China, people near a bridge over the Yalu River that runs along the border with North Korea were asked to leave early Tuesday amid heavy security arrangements.
During Wednesday’s events, Putin will be seated to Xi’s right and Kim to the Chinese president’s left, according to a Putin aide.
Kim may hold talks with Putin during his stay in China. The two last held talks when the Russian leader visited North Korea in June last year.
At that time, they signed a bilateral comprehensive partnership treaty that promised mutual assistance in case of aggression against either country.
