May 8, 2025
SEOUL – The Kremlin has confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his troops will not attend Russia’s May 9 Victory Day celebrations, despite growing attention over whether Kim would appear in Red Square alongside other leaders, amid Pyongyang’s deepening military alignment with Moscow.
Kim, however, has notably continued to publicly give “field guidance” at weapons factories at home — a move observers in Seoul interpret as signaling North Korea’s intent to sustain military support for Russia’s war effort.
In a briefing on Tuesday, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said, “North Korea will be represented at the ambassadorial level,” according to Russia’s state-run news agency TASS.
Ushakov did not rule out the possibility of a potential meeting between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin, however.
“But there will be another interesting meeting, which you’ll learn about a little later,” Ushakov added, without further details.
Ushakov confirmed that 29 foreign leaders will attend the Victory Day Parade in Moscow, including the leaders of Belarus, Brazil, China, Cuba, Egypt, Palestine, Venezuela and Vietnam, as well as leaders from African and Central Asian countries.
No North Korean leader has ever attended Russia’s May 9 military parade, nor has North Korea ever dispatched troops to participate in a foreign military parade.
The North Korean delegation, led by Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the rubber-stamp parliament, was dispatched to the 70th anniversary of Russia’s May 9 Victory Day in 2015. For the 60th anniversary in 2005, Ri Jong-san, chair of the Committee of Anti-Imperialist Veterans, was sent, according to data provided by the Unification Ministry.
Kim Jong-un, like his father, the late leader Kim Jong-il, has never attended a multilateral event, though the country’s late founder, Kim Il-sung, had a track record of participating in international multilateral gatherings, according to the Unification Ministry.
However, expectations had grown over Kim Jong-un’s potential attendance after Russia’s Putin and North Korean state media publicly acknowledged on April 28 the deployment and casualties of North Korean troops fighting against Ukraine — the first official admission from both sides.
Ushakov also confirmed that North Korean troops will not take part in the military parade. Asked whether North Korean troops would participate, Ushakov replied, “I’ve named all the countries participating,” without mentioning North Korea and stating that 13 countries — including Belarus, China, Vietnam and others — are to participate in the parade.
While skipping Russia’s Victory Day parade, Kim Jong-un has notably continued inspecting weapons factories following the official confirmation of North Korean troop deployments for Russia’s war against Ukraine.
North Korean state media reported Wednesday that Kim “gave field guidance at major munitions enterprises under the Second Economy Commission to inspect shell production and the state of the machine-building industry,” without disclosing the dates of the visits. The commission oversees North Korea’s military economy, responsible for planning, production, distribution and foreign trade of military products.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said state media reports show that “Kim Jong-un’s visits to munitions factories can be seen as inspections aimed at strengthening logistical support system in the rear for future troop deployments and weapons supplies” for Russia.
Lim noted the “newly highlighted strategic importance of increasing artillery shell production and the machine-building industry” in the state media report.
“This is undoubtedly inextricably linked to North Korea’s artillery shell support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and its cooperation with Russia in the military industrial sector,” Lim said.
“The presentation of mass production centered on artillery shells and the long-term development strategy of the machine industry (by Kim) is assessed as being intended to meet Russia’s war of attrition demand, to secure foreign currency and technology as a result and to prepare for a future of closer technological cooperation and exchange with Russia.”
On Sunday, state media also reported Kim’s field guidance at a “major tank factory,” without further details, including the name of the factory and date of the inspection.
Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, explained, “the M2024 tank revealed in the field guidance report is thought to be an improved version of the initial M2020 model updated to reflect combat experience from modern warfare such as the war in Ukraine.” The tank is also known as the Chonma-2.
“The heightened emphasis on the importance of tanks in battles against Ukraine and the need to demonstrate mobility and combat readiness likely contributed to the recent increase in public appearances (of tanks),” Hong added.