SEOUL: North Korea marked its founding anniversary with a parade attended by leader Kim Jong Un as well as Russian diplomats and a high-ranking Chinese delegation, state media said on Saturday, as Pyongyang deepens ties with Moscow and Beijing.

Kim met with the visiting Chinese delegation led by Liu Guozhong, vice-premier of the State Council, the second such visit by top officials from Beijing in six weeks. The two sides announced their aims of “further intensifying the multi-faceted coordination and cooperation” between the two countries, according to a separate KCNA report.

Russian diplomats also attended the event, as well as a Russian military song-and-dance ensemble which had arrived in Pyongyang to mark the occasion, KCNA reported.

Moscow expanded its official presence in North Korea shortly before the parade, with its Pyong­yang embassy saying this week that it had been allowed to bring in 20 diplomatic and technical staff — the first such rotation of personnel since 2019. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent Kim a message marking the anniversary, KCNA said Saturday, in which he called for the two countries to “expand the bilateral ties in all respects”.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2023