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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on board his train on September 2, 2025 [KCNA via Reuters]
Kim Jong Un’s Secretive Train Ride Into China: What It Means for Global Power Shifts
By Built Jayden – 2 September 2, 2025
A Midnight Crossing That Turned Heads
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the world’s most secretive leader crossed quietly into China on his armored green train. North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun confirmed that Kim Jong Un had left Pyongyang surrounded by his top party and government officials, bound for Beijing.
His destination? A military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II — an event expected to gather 26 world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
For most, this looked like another ceremonial gathering. But beneath the fanfare, Kim’s rare journey represents a significant recalibration of global power dynamics.
Why This Train Ride Matters
Kim Jong Un rarely travels abroad. In fact, since assuming power in 2011, he has left North Korea fewer than ten times, almost always to meet Xi in China or, in one extraordinary case, former U.S. President Donald Trump.
This trip stands out for three reasons:
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First multilateral stage: It marks Kim’s debut on a stage with multiple world leaders simultaneously.
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Symbol of alliances: The gathering visibly cements a China–Russia–North Korea axis, united by their opposition to Western hegemony.
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Military undertone: The parade coincides with Pyongyang’s increasing military cooperation with Moscow, including thousands of North Korean soldiers fighting — and dying — in Ukraine.
Jenny Town, director of the Washington-based research program 38 North, told Al Jazeera:
“This is Kim Jong Un’s first time participating in an event with multiple world leaders and presents an important diplomatic opportunity. Not only does it reinforce Kim’s elevated standing in an evolving world order, it situates North Korea firmly within a shared security narrative aligned with China and Russia against the West.”
A Historical Bond with Beijing
The relationship between North Korea and China stretches back to the 1950–53 Korean War. Chinese troops poured across the Yalu River to fight U.S. and UN forces, ensuring the survival of Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung.
Since then, Beijing has been Pyongyang’s economic lifeline — supplying food, oil, and diplomatic cover at the UN Security Council.
Kim Jong Un’s five previous meetings with Xi (2018–2019) underscored this dependency. But this week’s trip is not just about survival. It’s about positioning North Korea as a relevant player in the global anti-Western coalition.
A Stage Shared With Putin
The Beijing parade will also mark a rare occasion where Putin, Xi, and Kim appear side by side.
For Moscow, the symbolism is powerful: Russia is not isolated, despite Western sanctions. For Kim, it is a chance to show loyalty to Putin, who has been receiving direct military support from Pyongyang in the form of artillery, missiles, and manpower.
South Korea’s intelligence agency estimates that over 10,000 North Korean soldiers were deployed to Russia in 2024, mainly in the embattled Kursk region. At least 2,000 are believed to have been killed, a staggering toll for a country as small and impoverished as North Korea.
Yet Kim has doubled down. Just last week, he met with grieving families of the dead, promising them a “beautiful life” and vowing to raise the children of fallen fighters as “staunch warriors.”
This rhetoric is meant to bind loyalty through sacrifice — but it also reveals the depth of North Korea’s entanglement in a war far from its borders.
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North Korea’s Gamble in Ukraine
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on board his train on September 2, 2025 [KCNA via Reuters]
Why would Kim risk so much in Ukraine? Analysts point to three main motives:
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Weapons-for-food trade: In exchange for troops and ammunition, Pyongyang reportedly receives shipments of grain, fuel, and raw materials from Russia.
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Diplomatic shield: By supporting Moscow, Kim ensures Russia vetoes new UN sanctions on North Korea’s nuclear program.
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Military testing: The war gives Pyongyang an opportunity to battle-test its weapons in real combat, with Moscow providing feedback on performance.
For Kim, this is both a strategic lifeline and a dangerous gamble. The heavy losses have stirred quiet resentment at home, though dissent is difficult to measure in a state where surveillance and repression are constant.
Kim’s Style of Diplomacy: Symbolism Over Substance
Kim’s armored train itself tells a story. Weighing tons and crawling at just 37 miles per hour, it is fitted with bulletproof glass, advanced communication systems, and armed guards.
The train symbolizes paranoia, secrecy, and spectacle — all hallmarks of North Korean diplomacy. Every foreign trip is staged as a show of strength, even when it hides insecurity.
By traveling in this fashion to Beijing, Kim is deliberately echoing his grandfather and father, who also used the train for rare foreign visits. In Pyongyang’s propaganda, the journey isn’t about timetables or logistics. It’s about history repeating itself.
Xi’s Balancing Act
For Xi Jinping, hosting Kim is delicate. China is wary of being too openly aligned with Pyongyang, which remains a pariah state under UN sanctions.
Yet Xi also knows that a hostile North Korea would destabilize East Asia. Embracing Kim ensures Beijing keeps leverage over Pyongyang, especially as the U.S. tightens alliances with Japan and South Korea.
The optics of the parade — Xi, Putin, Kim standing together — will project unity. But behind closed doors, Xi may push Kim to show restraint, particularly with missile tests that risk dragging China into unwanted crises.
What This Means for the West
For Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo, Kim’s Beijing trip is deeply concerning. It represents:
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A visible China–Russia–North Korea bloc challenging U.S.-led order.
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Increased risk in the Indo-Pacific, as Pyongyang could embolden Beijing’s assertiveness in Taiwan or the South China Sea.
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Expanded military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, undermining sanctions regimes.
Already, U.S. officials have warned that North Korea’s artillery shells have extended Russia’s war in Ukraine. If Kim formalizes deeper security ties in Beijing, it could further complicate Western strategy.
Ordinary North Koreans Pay the Price
While leaders exchange smiles on international stages, ordinary North Koreans face worsening hardships.
The country remains under crushing sanctions, its economy battered by food shortages and fuel scarcities. Reports from defectors suggest that markets in border towns are flooded with Chinese grain repackaged as North Korean “aid” — a lifeline made possible by Kim’s political alignment with Beijing and Moscow.
Yet at the same time, thousands of North Korean families have been told their sons will never return from Ukraine. Kim’s promises of care ring hollow when poverty deepens and dissent grows silently beneath the surface.
Looking Ahead
Kim Jong Un’s Beijing trip is far more than ceremonial pageantry. It signals:
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North Korea’s integration into an anti-Western bloc, with China and Russia at its core.
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A new phase of militarized diplomacy, where Pyongyang trades manpower and weapons for survival.
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Greater global instability, as U.S.–China–Russia rivalry spills into new theaters.
As the armored train rolls deeper into China, the world should watch closely. This is not simply about commemorating the end of a past war. It is about the contours of a new Cold War being drawn in real time.
Final Thought
History teaches us that small, secretive moves can herald seismic shifts. Kim Jong Un’s midnight crossing into China may one day be remembered not as a footnote, but as a moment when global alliances hardened — and the path to confrontation sharpened.
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Sources
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[KCNA via Rodong Sinmun]
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[South Korean National Intelligence Service briefings]
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