Kim Jong Un has treated foreign dignitaries to a spectacle of fireworks and dancing as he celebrated 80 years of communist dictatorship.
North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party was feted with a pomp-filled display in a stadium in the capital of Pyongyang on Thursday.
He promised the country would become a ‘socialist paradise’ in his lifetime and insisted its ‘international prestige’ is growing by facing down ‘ferocious military pressure’ from the US.
Kim rolled out the red carpet for allied officials including China’s second-in-command, Premier Li Qiang, and one of Vladimir Putin’s top cronies, former President Dmitry Medvedev.
Plans for the celebrations were kept top secret, with scant information about the parade beside images and details disclosed on state media.
It’s been confirmed that the show included Russian ballet dancers and singers including a high-profile pro-Putin pop star.
Performers from Russian military forces also led a so-called ‘art mission’, which included gymnastics and dancing, that paid tribute to North Korean soldiers who died supporting Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
South Korean intelligence officers told local media the celebrations will likely climax with a military parade in Pyongyang involving tens of thousands of people on Friday.
Kim is expected to stand alongside Chinese and Russian leaders as he displays some of his newest advanced missiles designed to target the US and its allies.
It follows a rare appearance standing shoulder-to-shoulder alongside Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade in China last month.
Li is the highest-level Chinese politician to visit North Korea since Xi travelled there in 2019.
These displays of unity have fuelled speculation that the countries have strengthened their diplomatic ties lately.
It followed a long period of relative tensions driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
North Korea has sent thousands of troops to support Russian forces, while Chinese leaders reportedly want it to be over so they can focus on overtaking the US as the lynchpin of global stability.
In an address at Thursday’s celebrations, Kim said he has been pushing for the development of more nuclear missiles to respond to ‘growing nuclear war threats by the U.S. imperialists’.
‘Our party and government are still coping with our adversaries’ ferocious political and military moves of pressure by pursuing harder-line policies, holding fast to firm principles and employing brave, unflinching countermeasures,’ he said.
‘This is powerfully propelling the growth of the progressive camp against war and hegemony.’
The 41-year-old insisted economic difficulties would become a thing of the past.
‘I will surely turn this country into a more affluent and beautiful land and into the best socialist paradise in the world,’ he promised.
Kim reportedly held separate meetings with Li as well as Vietnam’s Communist Party general secretary, To Lam.
One of his top deputies met Medvedev.
Analysts are reportedly watching Friday’s displays for signs that North Korea will unveil the Hwasong-20 inter-continental ballistic missile.
Described as its ‘next generation’ nuclear missile, which underwent partial testing last month, it’s designed to overcome American missile defence systems.
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