Kim Jong Un Heads to Beijing for Military Parade With Xi, Putin

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed into China by armored train Tuesday en route to Beijing, where he will join Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a massive military parade marking 80 years since the end of World War II.

More than 25 world leaders are expected at Wednesday’s spectacle in Tiananmen Square, featuring massed troops, flyovers and displays of China’s latest high-tech weaponry. Chinese officials have billed the event as both a commemoration of wartime sacrifice and a show of unity with global partners.

Kim’s attendance—his first appearance alongside Xi and Putin at the same event—was confirmed by North Korea’s state broadcaster and reported by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. Analysts said his presence underscores growing trilateral ties between China, Russia and North Korea.

The parade comes after a week of diplomacy in China, where Xi hosted a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tianjin, criticizing Western “bullying” while Putin defended Russia’s war in Ukraine. Many of those leaders will also join Wednesday’s parade.

Security in Beijing has been tightened with extensive road closures and military deployments. Observers say new hardware, possibly including advanced laser systems, is likely to be unveiled.

Kim, who largely withdrew from international diplomacy after his failed 2019 summit with Donald Trump, has gradually re-emerged, meeting Putin in Russia in 2023.