New Cold War in offing? Leaders from China, North Korea, Russia to gather for military parade

Military weapons and other equipment are on display during a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, in this file photo from September 2015. AP-Yonhap

SEOUL, August 31 (AJP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is set to make his debut on the multilateral diplomatic stage later this week, with his upcoming trip to Beijing for a military parade as part of China's "Victory Day" celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

This will mark Kim's first time attending a multilateral gathering, since assuming power in late 2011, as he has previously held only bilateral summits during his visits to China and Russia.

Among the attendees for the event scheduled for Sept. 3 at Tiananmen Square was Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with other leaders and senior officials from Belarus, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Viet Nam.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Tianjin, northern China, for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a Beijing- and Moscow-backed regional security grouping, is also set to attend Wednesday's parade.

Kim's decision to attend the massive event, which will boast China's mighty military arsenal with state-of-the-art weapons and equipment, followed by a possible trilateral meeting with Putin and Xi, comes just a week after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington to reaffirm their three-way cooperation for regional peace and security.

After forging close military ties with Moscow in recent years by sending thousands of troops to support its war in Ukraine, Kim now appears to be trying to mend frayed relations with his country's traditional ally.

The three leaders' gathering at Beijing's symbolic venue would signal that the world may be headed for a new Cold War order or Cold War-style confrontation, where China, North Korea and Russia are squaring off against Japan, South Korea and the U.S.

Some pundits, however, speculate that Kim's attendance may be a strategic move to gain leverage in future talks with the U.S., amid Trump's repeated overtures to engage Pyongyang.

Although a flight from Pyongyang to Beijing would take about an hour, Kim is expected to soon board his private armored train again, which takes around 20 hours, even though he does not seem to have inherited his father's morbid fear of flying.

In an apparent sign of his impending trip, a hotel in the Chinese border city of Dandong recently halted bookings for rooms overlooking the train route.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com