North Korea's Kim Jong Un crosses border into China in armoured train

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed the border into China on his armoured train early on Tuesday (Sep 2) to attend China's celebration of the formal surrender of Japan in World War II, North Korean state media said.

Kim left Pyongyang for China on Monday and crossed into China early Tuesday morning, North Korea's state newspaper Rodong Sinmun said.

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.

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.

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Rodong Sinmun showed pictures of Kim with his entourage, such as Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, inside the special dark green train, which appeared to be similar to the bulletproof train he has used before to travel to other countries.

Choe is one of the few North Korean women to hold high office. She was appointed in 2022, having previously been the first vice minister of foreign affairs.

She has also been one of the very few officials closely involved in North Korea's diplomacy on weapons development for more than 20 years, dating from the early days of its nuclear programme.

Kim was also pictured on the train with Kim Song Nam, the director of the International Affairs Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, which manages party-to-party ties with China's ruling Communist Party.

In that position, he is Kim Jong Un's lead adviser and point man on China-North Korea relations, said Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert with the US-based Stimson Center.

Before crossing into China, Kim on Monday visited a missile laboratory that is researching carbon fibre composite materials to be used in engines for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), state media KCNA said.

"Maximum propulsion of the new solid-type engine using carbon fibre composites is 1,960 kN, planned to be used in the intercontinental ballistic missile 'Hwasong-19' series and the next-generation ... 'Hwasong-20'," KCNA said on Tuesday.

North Korea on Monday expressed support for remarks made by Xi at a summit calling for fairer global governance, adding that cooperation between North Korea and China will grow to pursue such a value, according to a vice foreign minister in comments posted on the North Korean foreign ministry's website.

Xi on Monday pressed his vision for a new global security and economic order that prioritises the "Global South", in a direct challenge to the United States, during a summit that included the leaders of Russia and India.