North Korea Celebrates Major Holiday With Special Guests From China and Russia

SEOUL—North Korea welcomed senior officials from China and Russia to celebrate the anniversary of the end of armed conflict in the Korean War, the latest expression of the three countries’ tightening bonds in the face of increasing U.S. military presence in the region.

Thursday marks the 70th anniversary of the truce that ended three years of fighting in the Korean War. North Korea held an evening military parade, according to South Korea’s semi-official Yonhap News Agency, which cited an unnamed source. Recent satellite imagery had shown large-scale preparations for the event in downtown Pyongyang, which was expected to be a showcase of the country’s largest nuclear missiles and latest weapons advances. 

As part of the celebrations, Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s 39-year-old dictator, welcomed groups this week led by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and a Chinese Politburo member, Li Hongzhong.

North Korea had sealed off its borders since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The only outsider formally allowed into the country since then was the new Chinese ambassador to Pyongyang, who came earlier this year. Even North Korean nationals, such as laborers in Russia and China, have been prevented from entering their home country over pandemic fears. 

Facing an increasing U.S. military presence in the region, Pyongyang has found an opportunity to deepen its alignment with Beijing and Moscow for a much-needed economic lifeline and a shield against international punishment for its illegal weapons tests. 

By inviting Russian and Chinese officials to Thursday’s military parade, North Korea could send a message that the two countries have given tacit approval for Pyongyang’s self-declared nuclear status and offer a sense that the regime has powerful backers, said Anthony Rinna, a specialist on Russia-North Korea relations at the Sino-NK research group, a website focused on China and North Korea. 

“Pyongyang may be looking to reinforce the narrative that the three countries are all standing up against the West,” Rinna said. 

China, Russia and North Korea have increasingly stuck up for one another, as they each ramp up confrontations with the U.S. and its allies. Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to travel to China in October to discuss economic cooperation, according to state news agency Tass, following Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow in March. The U.S. has accused North Korea of providing military aid to Russia for the war in Ukraine, which Moscow and Pyongyang have denied. Chinese cross-border trade with North Korea is again approaching prepandemic levels. In a letter sent last month, Kim praised Xi for strengthening China’s national power and international standing. 

Despite North Korea launching more than 100 ballistic missiles since last year, China and Russia have blocked U.S.-led efforts at the United Nations Security Council for additional sanctions. At U.N. Security Council meetings, Beijing and Moscow have blamed Washington’s “hostile” policy toward Pyongyang and the U.S.’s growing military alliance with Tokyo and Seoul for North Korea’s military buildup. 

Beijing and Moscow can use their influence to encourage Pyongyang to refrain from threatening, unlawful behavior, a U.S. State Department spokesman said earlier this week. 

On July 27, 1953, the U.S.-led United Nations Command, North Korea and China signed the armistice that brought an end to military hostilities in the Korean War. A peace treaty wasn’t signed, meaning the North and South remain technically at war.

In Pyongyang’s historical account, the country fended off an invasion by U.S. forces, with July 27 celebrated as “Victory Day.” But U.S. and South Korean historical records show North Korean leader Kim Il Sung initiated an attack on the South. The Chinese army, aided by the Soviet air force, backed North Korea during the war. 

South Korea doesn’t consider July 27 to be a holiday, referring to it as the anniversary of the armistice. On Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol invited dozens of foreign war veterans to honor soldiers killed during the 1950-1953 conflict. 

Over the past year, the Yoon administration has sought stronger U.S. assurances that it would use its nuclear weapons to protect Seoul in the event of a Kim regime nuclear attack. Yoon, a conservative who backs a more confrontational stance with Pyongyang, has also normalized South Korea’s relations with Japan, bolstering trilateral deterrence against North Korea’s escalating nuclear advances.

On Wednesday, Kim hosted Russia’s Shoigu at a weapons exhibition, showing off new military drones and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The two walked along a row of missiles mounted on missile-launcher trucks, as Kim briefed Shoigu on plans to expand military capabilities, according to Pyongyang’s state media. Kim also paid respects to fallen Chinese soldiers who fought in the “anti-U.S. struggle.” 

The Russian defense minister’s presence “showcases the idea of Russian-North Korean defense cooperation amid the war in Ukraine and the need to fend off the U.S. and its allies,” said Patrick Cronin, the Asia-Pacific security chair at the Hudson Institute, a think tank in Washington.

Kim also met with the Chinese delegation on Wednesday, where Li delivered a letter from Xi, according to North Korea’s state media, which didn’t elaborate on the message’s contents. Kim said the visit represents Xi’s will to attach “great importance” to the two countries’ relations.

The trade volume between Beijing and Pyongyang in the first half of 2023 has rebounded close to prepandemic levels, tripling compared with the same period last year. Last week, the Group of Seven nations and some European countries, in a letter to China, expressed concern over the presence of multiple oil tankers facilitating trade of sanctioned petroleum products to North Korea.

In recent years, Pyongyang has sensed an opportunity in the divide between Beijing and Washington to garner more support for its economy and weapons program, said Patricia M. Kim, a China expert at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank. 

“China and North Korea today share the common view that the U.S. presence in the region and its alliance network with South Korea and Japan are undercutting their strategic interests,” Kim said. 

Write to Dasl Yoon at [email protected]