North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a paramilitary parade with his daughter in Pyongyang late Friday night to mark the 75th anniversary of the country's founding but made no speech, according to state-run media.
The parade was staged by the Worker-Peasant Red Guards, a civilian defense organization, in the capital's Kim Il Sung Square ahead of Saturday's anniversary, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
KCNA described the leader's child as a "respected daughter." She is believed to be Kim Ju Ae.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said the event started at midnight Friday. A Chinese delegation headed by Vice Premier Liu Guozhong and the Russian army song and dance ensemble watched the parade as they had been invited by Pyongyang, KCNA said.
The North Korean leader met Liu and other members of the Chinese group Friday and expressed gratitude to President Xi Jinping for sending the delegation to celebrate the anniversary, the state media said.
Xi sent a congratulatory message to Kim, saying Pyongyang has achieved "important results" in economic development and improvement of people's livelihood under his leadership, according to KCNA and China's official Xinhua News Agency.
Kim plans to visit Vladivostok in the Russian Far East next week to discuss with President Vladimir Putin the possibility of further weapons supplies for Russia's war against Ukraine, as well as other military cooperation, The New York Times reported Monday.
Putin also congratulated Kim in a message, expressing his confidence that the two countries will expand their ties in all respects and stronger bilateral relations will contribute to ensuring security and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, KCNA said.
In July, a Chinese group headed by Li Hongzhong, a member of the ruling Communist Party's Political Bureau, and a Russian delegation led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attended events in Pyongyang celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, watching a military parade with Kim.
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