On Wednesday, Kim Jong Un demonstrated North Korea’s latest weapons to Russia’s Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu. Pyongyang invited Mr Shoigu’s Russian delegation as well as Chinese officials.

They will take part in Pyongyang’s 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, which will be honored by major military parades.

North Korea: Kim Jong Un displays missiles: The Hwasong intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was among the weaponry on exhibit.

It is considered to be the country’s first ICBM to employ solid propellants, which allows it to launch faster than liquid-fuel ICBMs. It was successfully tested in April.

Two new drone designs were also on display, one of which resembled the principal offensive strike drone deployed by the US Air Force, according to NK News, a North Korean-focused website.

Mr. Shoigu’s visit comes amid allegations that Pyongyang is supplying Russia with armaments for use in its conflict in Ukraine, which both Pyongyang and Moscow reject.

According to North Korea’s KCNA news agency, Mr. Kim and Mr. Shoigu discussed “matters of mutual concern” in the sectors of national defense and international security.

The delegations’ journey to North Korea for Victory Day – as the end of hostilities in 1953 is known in the North – is slated to conclude on Thursday with a large military parade.

Because no peace treaty was established after the battle ended, the Koreas are officially still at war.

North Korea has traditionally had allies in Russia and China. Their visit is the first time Mr Kim has welcomed foreign visitors since the Covid epidemic.

Pyongyang last welcomed foreign government delegates to a military display in February 2018.

According to KCNA, Mr Kim held a “friendly talk” with Mr Shoigu, who delivered him an autographed letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who later termed North Korea’s military “the most powerful” in the world.

The visiting Chinese delegation, led by Politburo member Li Hongzhong, also presented Mr Kim with a handwritten letter from Mr Xi.

Beijing had committed troops to back North Korea in its fight against South Korea in the autumn of 1950. The war was also sponsored by the Soviet Union at the time.

Because of their mutual disdain for the United States, Russia has remained a natural ally for North Korea after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

According to some commentators, the presence of Chinese and Russian envoys in this year’s Victory Day parade points at a future relaxation of Covid restrictions.

This comes after photographs of North Koreans wandering around without masks surfaced a few weeks ago.

In early 2020, the reclusive country cut all trade and diplomatic relations, even with its biggest economic and political partners, Russia and China.

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