China’s foreign ministry and North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency confirmed the visit on Thursday, but neither disclosed the trip’s duration or itinerary.
Assistant foreign minister Hong Lei said Beijing “warmly welcomes” Kim’s attendance, noting that this year also marked 80 years since the end of Japanese colonial rule on the Korean peninsula.
Kim will be among 26 foreign leaders attending the parade, along with dignitaries from Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Belarus, Iran, Serbia, Slovakia and Central Asian nations.
It will be Kim’s first time taking part in a multilateral event alongside other heads of state, according to Lu Chao, an expert on northeast Asian affairs and professor of international relations at Liaoning University.
