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Kim Jong Un always invites his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, to various important moments. Photo/Reuters
PYONGYANG – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un marked the anniversary of the country’s founding with a military parade and diplomatic exchanges in which he vowed to deepen relations with China and Russia.
Kim observed the parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang and held talks with the visiting Chinese delegation. Kim attended the parade with her daughter, believed to be Kim Ju Ae.
The parade featured rocket launchers hidden in delivery trucks and tractors towing troops and weapons, highlighting the militia’s role as guerrilla fighters in the war.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a letter expressing his willingness to strengthen strategic communications and working-level cooperation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also sent a letter to Kim, saying the two countries would expand bilateral ties to ensure security and stability on the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia.
“Increasing China-Russia-North Korea cooperation and Xi’s absence from the G20 summit in India suggest a growing gap in Asia’s geopolitical landscape,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, as reported by Reuters.
“Most stakeholders in the region want to avoid a new Cold War, but this appears increasingly difficult as Beijing and Moscow support Pyongyang and North Korea aligns itself with China and Russia’s challenges to the international order.”
The annual two-day summit of the Group of 20 (G20) countries will begin on Saturday in New Delhi, India, which will be dominated by Western countries, with China’s Xi skipping it and Russia’s Putin also absent.
Kim is expected to travel to Russia this month to meet Putin to discuss supplying Moscow with weapons to support a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
North Korea supplements its already large military with various paramilitary, reserve, and security groups such as the army-affiliated Worker-Peasant Red Guard (WPRG).
(ahm)
