BEIJING: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was on his way to Beijing on Tuesday morning, having crossed the border into China aboard an armored train ahead of a massive military parade on Wednesday.
Kim will join Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin for a huge spectacle in which China will showcase its military prowess, with troops marching in formation, flypasts and other high-tech fighting gear.
More than 25 leaders will also attend Wednesday’s parade centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to mark 80 years since the end of World War II.
Millions of Chinese people were killed during a prolonged war with imperial Japan in the 1930s and 40s, which became part of a global conflict following Tokyo’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
China has touted the parade as a show of unity with other countries, and Kim’s attendance will be the first time he has been seen with Xi and Putin at the same event.
