Kim Jong Un travels to Beijing on an armored train

International media report that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has left Pyongyang for China, where he is expected to participate in the Beijing military parade known as the “Victory Day”.

The parade takes place Wednesday at Tiananmen Square and will put Kim in front of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and a host of other world leaders. This will be Kim Jong Un's first international meeting.

According to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, he left cenyan on his armoured train Monday evening, which includes restaurants with French wines and luxury foods like fresh humvees. Due to high security, the train moves at low speed, and the trip to Beijing is expected to last up to 24 hours.

This is the first time a North Korean leader has attended a Chinese military parade since 1959. Kim will join 26 other heads of state, among them from Myanmar, Iran and Cuba. At the last parade of its kind in 2015, cenan sent only a senior official, Choe Ryong-hae.

His trip to China also marks the first major international exit since meetings with Vladimir Putin, with which he met twice after the launch of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. The last visit to Beijing was in 2019, for the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries even then by train. /Periscope/