North Korean leader Kim Jong Un entered China aboard his armoured train for his rare visit outside the country to attend a military parade in Beijing.
Mr Kim, his foreign minister Choe Son Hui, and other senior officials left Pyongyang late Monday to attend the “Victory Day” parade on Wednesday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported earlier Tuesday, citing a statement from its foreign ministry.
The North Korea leader is believed to be travelling with his wife Ri Sol Ju and his powerful sister Kim Yo Jong, Yonhap reported, citing South Korea’s spy agency National Information Society Agency.
The intelligence service said Mr Kim will likely receive special protocol and security measures on par with those given to Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to Lee Seong Kweun, a lawmaker who attended NIA's closed-door briefing to lawmakers.
His train crossed the Chinese border early in the morning on Tuesday, it said and is expected to reach Beijing late in the day following a 24-hour trip in his heavy and slow-moving train.
The North Korean dictator is widely believed to avoid air travel for long distances due to a personal fear of flying and travels in his specially designed luxurious train with his cars, gourmet meals, and imported wines.
The bullet-proof, armoured train called Taeyangho is also dubbed a “moving fortress”. According to Yonhap News, it runs only at 60km (37 miles) per hour and is expected to take 20 hours to get to Beijing.
Mr Kim arrived in China at the invitation of Xi Jinping to participate in “celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War”, KCNA said.
The North Korean leader will join Russian president Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping in a rare public display of three-way unity against the US.
Mr Kim will join 25 other world leaders who are set to join Beijing as it commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
It would mark Mr Kim's first appearance at a major multilateral event during his 14-year rule, and it would also be the first time leaders of Russia, China, and North Korea would share a stage. However, none of the three countries has confirmed a private trilateral leaders' meeting.
The leader of the reclusive country rarely travels abroad and takes part in gatherings. He last set foot outside the country in 2023 to visit Russia for talks with Mr Putin as the two countries have drawn closer amid their growing rift with the US.
China, which shares a long border with North Korea, has remained a key economic and diplomatic ally of Pyongyang and helped in keeping its economy afloat amid crippling economic sanctions from the US and its allies.
However, it is seen as an uneasy alliance by experts as China has also remained its most influential critic and supported UN sanctions in response to North Korea’s nuclear programme while seeking stability in its neighbourhood.
The visit would be watched closely as America’s three most vocal adversaries meet amid growing Western concerns over North Korea’s supply of troops and weaponry to Russia to support its war in Ukraine.
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