Kim Jong-un flexes his military muscles alongside China and Russia
North Korea asserts its role as a "useful ally" and unveils a missile capable of attacking the US.
TokyoNorth Korea commemorated the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party this weekend with a massive parade in Pyongyang that combined domestic spectacle, ideological assertion, and geopolitical message. Leader Kim Jong-un presided over the event on Friday night, accompanied by foreign delegations., including Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang and Russian Vice President Dmitri Medvedev, in a setting that served to project the regime as a "useful ally" to Beijing and Moscow, and that reinforced its position amid tensions with Washington and Seoul, despite leaving the door ajar to an open Trump.
The real star of the parade, however, was the military technology: Pyongyang presented the Hwasong-20, which the official press described as the country's "most powerful strategic nuclear weapon." The new intercontinental missile, mounted on a large mobile launcher, would be equipped with a solid-fuel engine that significantly reduces preparation time and increases response capacity. The regime is suggesting that its reach could reach the continental United States., a domestically celebrated advance that would raise the level of deterrence while simultaneously sending an unambiguous message to Washington.
The presence of Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang gave the celebration of that date a dimension that went far beyond domestic politics. In public, both Kim and Le insisted on the need to "strengthen cooperation" and intensify political and economic communication, but Beijing's gesture has a deeper meaning: China seeks to stabilize the peninsula and keep channels open with Pyongyang at a time of heightened tension with Washington over tariffs. This visit amounts to a diplomatic endorsement that reinforces its room for maneuver and allows it to present itself to the world as a relevant player within the new Asian axis that Beijing and Moscow seek to articulate.
The presence of a Russian delegation, led by former President Dmitry Medvedev, Vice President of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, added a new geopolitical dimension to the anniversary. Moscow seeks to strengthen ties with Pyongyang at a time of international isolation. and turn North Korea into a tactical ally against the West. Beyond the formal gestures, the meeting would have allowed for an increase in channels of economic and military cooperation—from technological exchanges to possible logistics agreements, arms supplies, and military advisory services—that could help Russia sustain the war effort in Ukraine. For Kim Jong-un, rapprochement with Moscow not only strengthens a useful and beneficial alliance but also offers him diplomatic room for maneuver for hypothetical new talks with Washington.
Meeting with Trump
This commemoration has once again put on the table the possibility of a new meeting between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, scheduled for November in Gyeongju, South Korea. In August, Trump had already expressed his willingness to resume dialogue with the North Korean leader and admitted the possibility of holding a new summit before the end of the year, although he did not provide further details.
Kim and Trump met up to three times during the US president's first term, when both said they had "fallen in love" with each other, but those meetings did not lead to any solid agreement on denuclearization or security. Since the arrival of the Biden administration, North Korea has reaffirmed its position as an "irreversible" nuclear power. Pyongyang maintains that Kim has "good memories" of Trump and would be willing to resume talks provided Washington dropped its demands for unilateral nuclear disarmament.
