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.
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 China’s foreign ministry.
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.