By Anadolu staff
ISTANBUL (AA) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his international debut by attending a multilateral diplomatic gathering Wednesday alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade in Beijing.
It marks the first time that the third-generation leader has attended a multilateral diplomatic event since he assumed power in December 2011. He has never attended a UN meeting in New York.
Kim was the second foreign guest to reach the podium in Tiananmen Square in Beijing after Putin to witness China’s military might.
Videos and photos shared by Chinese state media showed Kim standing on the left side of Xi.
China is holding a massive parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War as well as 80th anniversary of the UN’s founding.
Kim, 41, traveled to Beijing using his special armored train and is accompanied by his daughter and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui besides other senior officials.
Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il-Sung, the founder and first leader of North Korea, first attended such a military parade in Beijing in 1959.
The 26 foreign leaders attending the military parade also include Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.