NKorea: No Kim at Moscow V-Day gala
Print Edition
North Korea announced yesterday that the head of its parliament will attend this month’s Victory Day celebration in Moscow, squelching speculation that supreme leader Kim Jong Un would use the event to make his international debut.
Moscow said in March that Kim was among dozens of leaders invited to the May 9 celebrations, which mark the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
North Korea had never confirmed Kim would go. After Moscow announced last week that Kim had declined the invite, North Korea said yesterday that Kim Yong Nam, the head of the presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, would attend. Kim Yong Nam has often represented the country at international or diplomatic events.
The brief North Korean announcement made no mention of an invitation to leader Kim. But Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that “internal matters” were preventing him from leaving North Korea.
The idea that leader Kim, who assumed power after the death of his father in 2011, might choose Moscow for his first trip abroad seemed plausible because North Korea has been actively pursuing better ties with Russia.
The two countries have increased official exchanges and stepped up talks to bolster trade. The Russian president has also shown more interest in developing relations as part of what some analysts have dubbed “Putin’s pivot” to Asia.
But foreign observers have suggested North Korea did not see the Moscow event as right for Kim’s debut because he would be sharing the stage with other leaders.
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