Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong’s visit to North Korea this week is second Beijing delegation to Pyongyang in months

North Korean state-owned Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) announced on Thursday that Liu would attend celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean government on Saturday.

“On the invitation of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), a party and government delegation of the People’s Republic of China headed by Liu Guozhong …[will] participate in the celebrations of the 75th birthday of the DPRK,” KCNA reported.

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North Korean leader Kim to travel abroad for meeting with Russian leader Putin in September: report

North Korean leader Kim to travel abroad for meeting with Russian leader Putin in September: report

On September 9 North Korea celebrates its “Day of the Foundation of the Republic”. This year marks the 75th anniversary since the northern part of the peninsula established a socialist government after Soviet occupation in 1948, three years after Korea gained independence from Japan and was divided into a communist North and capitalist South.

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In 2018, Li Zhanshu, then NPC Standing Committee chairman and the third-ranking official in the Politburo, attended the 70th anniversary celebrations of North Korea’s founding.

The choice of the lower ranked Li Hongzhong and Liu Guozhong to lead the Chinese delegations may imply Beijing is downplaying its relations with Pyongyang, says an analyst.

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“Compared to sending Li Zhanshu to the 70th anniversary event in 2018, I think there still is an intention to [downplay relations with North Korea],” said Lee Sang-sook, a research professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, a Seoul-based think tank.

“From China’s perspective, North Korea’s repeated provocations and build-up of weapons of mass destruction not only heighten tensions in the Korean peninsula, but also serve as a cause of strengthening trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the US and Japan, which is interpreted as a political burden on security cooperation with North Korea.”

On Monday, The New York Times, citing a US official, reported that Kim Jong-un might visit Vladivostok next week to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin. It would be Kim’s first trip outside North Korea since the pandemic started.

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The two leaders are likely to discuss arms deal between their countries, exchanging North Korean artillery shells and anti-tank missiles for Moscow’s advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines.

South Korean spy agency the National Intelligence Service also said on Monday Russia’s Defence Minister Shoigu had suggested joint military exercises between North Korea, China and Russia when he met Kim in July.