North Korea held a paramilitary parade today to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the country’s founding, which, according to state media, was attended by leader Kim Jong-un and delegations from China and Russia.
At the event, which took place in Kim Il Sung Square in the capital Pyongyang, “paramilitary forces” participated instead of regular Army soldiers, and weapons banned by the UN, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, were not on display.
Images from the official press showed uniformed paramilitary brigades, some on tractors or large red trucks, all under the watchful eye of Kim and his daughter.
Another group of Russian diplomats and a singing and dancing group also attended the event, this media explained.
Kim met with a Chinese delegation led by State Council Vice Premier Liu Guozhong in the second visit in six weeks by senior Chinese officials, a sign that Pyongyang is relaxing its border control against the coronavirus.
Both parties announced their intention to continue “intensifying coordination and cooperation” between the two countries, the official North Korean agency KCNA reported and AFP replied.
According to Chinese state media, President Xi Jinping also congratulated Kim in a call.
For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Kim on the anniversary, calling for strengthening “bilateral ties on all fronts.”
“This is fully in the interest of our people,” Putin said, adding that since the proclamation of the Pyongyang Government, “relations between our countries have been based on the principles of friendship, good neighborliness and mutual respect.”
Russia recently received permission to add new diplomats to its mission in Pyongyang, in what would be the first staff rotation since 2019.
This presence of Chinese and Russian dignitaries fuels speculation of a meeting between Kim and Putin to discuss arms sales agreements.
The North Korean leader does not usually travel abroad, and has not left the country since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Official US sources told The New York Times that Kim will travel this month by armored train to the nearby Russian city of Vladivostok to meet with Putin.
However, the Kremlin denied the meeting for the second time this week.
“No, I don’t know anything,” declared the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, when asked if he had information about a possible meeting.
Source: Ambito
