Beijing: A special armoured train carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Beijing on Tuesday as he is set to appear at China’s upcoming military parade, which will be attended by dozens of state leaders, setting the stage for his multilateral diplomatic debut.
The train arrived at Beijing Railway Station at around 4 p.m. (local time), nearly a day after departing Pyongyang, with Kim accompanied by Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and other officials.
A train carrying a North Korean flag was seen in Beijing before a motorcade with the flag departed the station.
North Korea’s state media said, later confirmed by Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), that Kim departed Pyongyang the previous day aboard his private train en route to Beijing and crossed into China at dawn.
Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be among dozens of foreign leaders attending Wednesday’s military parade presided over by Chinese President Xi Jinping at Tiananmen Square to celebrate the 80th anniversary of “victory” over Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II.
Kim will stand “side by side” with Xi and Putin at Wednesday’s military parade, the NIS said. It also predicted that Kim may hold separate summits with both leaders on the sidelines.
Russian reports have said Kim will be seated to Xi’s left, with Putin on his right. The three leaders, appearing shoulder to shoulder, would send a strong signal to the world about their strengthening trilateral solidarity.
“Kim will demonstrate trilateral solidarity by standing side by side with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during Wednesday’s military parade at Tiananmen Square,” the NIS assessed earlier in the day.
Russia’s Tass news agency also reported Tuesday that Kim and Putin could hold a summit in China, citing the Kremlin.
Russia may discuss the possibility of a Kim-Putin summit once Kim arrives in Beijing, a Kremlin spokesperson said.
Kim has not yet appeared at a multilateral diplomatic event since taking power from his late father, Kim Jong-il, although he has participated in bilateral summits.
His rare decision to attend the Chinese military parade is widely seen as an effort to restore traditionally close ties with China and shed his long-standing pariah image.
With bilateral summits and the signing of a mutual defence treaty last year, Kim and Putin have rapidly deepened military ties, prompting Pyongyang to deploy troops and weapons to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine and straining its ties with Beijing.
Kim’s trip also comes amid growing prospects of the end of the Russia-Ukraine war, which could shift Moscow’s focus westward, away from Pyongyang, along with its economic assistance, Yonhap news agency reported.
The NIS assessed that Kim’s trip is aimed at “expanding his room to manoeuvre by restoring North Korea-China relations and securing China’s economic assistance to buoy his regime.”
Some also suggest that Kim may be seeking to recover relations with China in a bid to leverage them to strengthen his bargaining position ahead of a potential resumption of negotiations with the United States.
(IANS)
