Who will attend the military parade in Beijing: Kim Jong Un, Putin...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit China to attend a military parade next week to mark Japan's formal surrender in World War II, state media said, in what is likely to be the largest multilateral diplomatic event Kim has ever attended.

Kim is traveling at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korea's state news agency KCNA said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes in Ukraine, will also be at the parade. However, China is not a member of the ICC, and Putin has already visited Beijing since the warrant was issued in 2023.

Among the 26 foreign heads of state and government attending are no significant Western or European Union (EU) leaders, except for Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

"It is quite unusual for Kim to attend the Victory Day ceremony, and it may be the first time he has attended a gathering of so many heads of state, where he can meet with Putin, Xi and the leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam at the same time," said Yang Mu-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, Reuters reports.

"Kim will seek to expand his global leadership status, and North Korea, China and Russia may try to jointly respond to cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the United States (US)," Yang added.

Radio Free Europe (RFE) reports that Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Iranian President Masoud Peskov, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and South Korean National Assembly Speaker Wo Won-shik will also attend.

North Korea is under severe international sanctions for its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, which have been carried out in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Experts and international officials say sanctions have lost much of their effect due to the growing economic, military and political reliance on Russia and China.

Beijing has been one of North Korea's traditional allies and a key economic supporter of the isolated state, although in 2017 China joined other countries, including the US, in implementing international sanctions against Pyongyang.

Xi and Kim met several times in 2018 and 2019, but relations between North Korea and China have cooled since 2020 due to, according to experts, issues such as China's insistence on the repatriation of North Korean workers.

During that period, North Korea and Russia became closer militarily, with Pyongyang sending weapons and soldiers to support Russia in its war against Ukraine.

South Korean Parliament Speaker Wo Won-shik is expected to attend the parade.

When asked whether Vo will meet with Kim or any other North Korean officials in China, his spokesman said today that there are no meetings planned for now.

South Korean President Kang Hun-shik's chief of staff told reporters today that South Korea was aware that Kim would attend.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said this was the first time Kim had attended such a multilateral event, which could help draw him to the negotiating table.

"We must continue to make efforts so that North Korea can come to dialogue... to ultimately achieve the denuclearization of North Korea," he said.

BBC in Serbian reports that the leaders of some European countries are also expected to attend the parade, such as Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

It has not yet been officially announced that Vučić is going to China, but this can be expected considering that Xi Jinping sent him a letter at the end of July inviting him to the parade, according to BBC in Serbian.

In May of this year, Xi Jinping, Vučić, and Fico were among the foreign statesmen who attended a military parade in Moscow to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory over Fascism in World War II, in which the former Soviet Union made a huge contribution to the defeat of the Axis Powers.

The announcement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry came days after US President Donald Trump said he wanted to meet with Kim Jong Un and as the White House tries to broker a deal to end the war in Ukraine, BBC Serbian reports.