Russia, China Visit North Korea To Celebrate 70th Anniversary Of Korean War 'Victory Day'

The event comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region amid increasing US-led war games with South Korean and Japanese troops in the region and North Korea’s retaliatory weapons tests.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and a Chinese delegation including a Politburo member arrived in in Pyongyang this week to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, celebrated in North Korea as "Victory Day”. The anniversary events come at a time of heightened tensions in the region amid increasing US-led war games with South Korean and Japanese troops in the region and North Korea’s retaliatory weapons tests. Shoigu accompanied North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to a defence exhibition that featured the North's banned ballistic missiles as the neighbours pledged to boost ties. The visit is considered to be a show of solidarity by three countries united by their rivalry with the United States, as per Reuters..

Shoigu is making the first visit by a Russian defence minister to North Korea since the fall of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, for North Korea, the visit by the two countries’ delegations is its first major opening to the world since the coronavirus pandemic.

“This visit will contribute to strengthening Russian-North Korean military ties and will be an important stage in the development of co-operation between the two countries,” the Russian defense ministry declared on Tuesday in a post on its official Telegram channel.

Shoigu gave Kim a letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean media reported.

Kim thanked Putin for sending the military delegation led by Shoigu, saying the visit had deepened the "strategic and traditional" relations between North Korea and Russia.

"(Kim) expressed his views on the issues of mutual concern in the struggle to safeguard the sovereignty, development and interests of the two countries from the high-handed and arbitrary practices of the imperialists and to realise international justice and peace," reported Reuters.

"He repeatedly expressed belief that the Russian army and people would achieve big successes in the struggle for building a powerful country," it said.

Kim also met Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Li Hongzhong for talks and was handed a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping. The visit by Li's delegation showed Xi's commitment to "attach great importance to the DPRK-China friendship," Kim was quoted as saying by Reuters, referring to the North as the initial of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Russia and China, meanwhile, have stood firm against US-led efforts at the United Nations Security Council to impose more sanctions against North Korea over its growing missile test in response to increasing US military presence and war games in the Korean Peninsula.