China sends delegation to North Korea to celebrate country’s founding anniversary – Observer

A Chinese delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Liu Guozhong will visit North Korea, where it will participate on Saturday in commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the country, North Korean state media reported on Thursday. .

The visit takes place at a time when information point to a trip by the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, to Russia, to meet with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. The meeting is expected to include talks on selling North Korean arms to Moscow to replenish Russian reserves drained by the war against Ukraine.

Kim Jong-un goes to Russia to arrange arms sale to Moscow. North Korea should receive technology and food

The Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang’s official body, said the visit by Liu’s delegation would be at the invitation of the Workers’ Party, North Korea’s only party. The agency did not specify which events Chinese officials will attend or whether they will meet with Kim.

A US government official said on Monday that Washington expected Kim to make a trip to Russia this month to meet with Putin, as the Kremlin tries to acquire military equipment to use in the war in Ukraine. The meeting could take place as early as next week in the city of Vladivostok, in eastern Russia, where Putin is expected to participate in an economic forum, which takes place between Sunday and Wednesday.

In exchange for providing grenades and other munitions, North Korea can ask for energy and food sources and advanced weapons technologies, analysts say.

There are concerns that the transfer of Russian technology could increase the threat posed by Kim’s growing arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles, designed to target the United States and its Asian allies, South Korea and Japan.

Amid deepening nuclear tensions with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, Kim has been trying to raise the profile of his partnerships with Moscow and Beijing.while seeking to break diplomatic isolation and integrate Pyongyang into a united front against the United States.

In July, Kim invited delegations led by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Li Hongzhong to a military parade in Pyongyang, where he displayed his most powerful weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to hit the USA.

On the eve of the parade, Kim took Shoigu to a weapons exhibition, which demonstrated North Korea’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and raised suspicions that Pyongyang is willing to supply arms to Moscow.

At a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Wednesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol urged all UN member states to fulfill their obligations under existing Security Council resolutions to limit North Korea’s nuclear capabilitieswhich include a ban on arms trade with the country.