How cute the leaders of China, Russia, and North Korea all got to cosplay that their countries defeated Imperial Japan during World War II:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stood shoulder to shoulder with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping at center stage at a military parade in Beijing on Wednesday, marking the first such meeting among leaders of Pyongyang, Moscow and Beijing in 66 years.
The spectacle of Kim standing with Putin and Xi at the viewing gallery of Tiananmen Square marks a major display of their trilateral solidarity in defiance of the West, led by the United States.
Wearing a black business suit and a gold-colored tie, Kim joined Xi and Putin on the center stage at the rostrum for top-level guests as the parade kicked off with elaborate ceremonies at Tiananmen Square — a historic moment showcasing solidarity among China, Russia and North Korea.
Putin was seated on Xi’s right and Kim on his left, with Xi occasionally turning toward Kim to talk, their bodies angled toward each other.
You can read more at the link, but Russia is really the only country of the three that can say it did anything to defeat Imperial Japan. They at least fought the Imperial Japanese during the last days of World War II in Manchuria and North Korea when they had already been largely defeated by the U.S. and its allies.
By the way here is what Trump had to say about the parade:
U.S. President Donald Trump described the parade as Kim, Putin and Xi conspiring against Washington, writing a message on his social media account addressed to Xi: “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against the United States of America.”
The axis of authoritarianism is meeting in China this week to pretend that the CCP had anything to do with helping to win World War II:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is set to take an initial step onto the multilateral diplomatic stage in China this week, with his planned trip to attend a military parade in Beijing setting the stage for a possible three-way summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
It will be the first time for Kim, who assumed power in late 2011, to attend a multilateral diplomatic event. His grandfather and the North’s founder Kim Il-sung attended a military parade in Beijing in 1959.
The decision by Kim to attend China’s military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, alongside Putin and Xi, was announced days after both South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump expressed their eagerness to resume diplomacy with North Korea in their high-stakes summit in Washington.
N.K. leader hails commanders deployed in Russia’s war on Ukraine North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) meets with military commanders deployed to Russia in its war against Ukraine at the headquarters of the Party Central Committee in Pyongyang on Aug. 20, 2025, as they returned home to attend a commendation ceremony, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (Yonhap)
Russian singer’s performance in Pyongyang Russian popular singer Shaman waves Russian and North Korean flags as he stages a performance at a stadium in Pyongyang on Aug. 15, 2025, to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, in this photo taken from North Korea’s official Korean Central Television on Aug. 18. (Yonhap)
South Korea, which hosts this year's APEC summit, has invited Vladimir Putin to attend the event, according to Russian state media TASS, citing the Russian foreign ministry.
This would be condemnable if the world hadn't just seen Putin visiting Alaska.https://t.co/m73X3ZrAOV
Russian student campers in N. Korea Russian student campers, who are participating in an international children’s camp with North Korean students, ride on an attraction at an amusement park in Pyongyang on July 29, 2025, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. (Yonhap)
Inaugural Pyongyang-Moscow direct flight A Russian delegation (rear) is welcomed by North Korean people during a ceremony at the international airport in Pyongyang on July 28, 2025, to mark the first direct flight linking Moscow to the North Korean capital, operated by Nordwind Airlines, amid a strengthening of ties between the two nations, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (Yonhap)
N. Korea-Russia children’s campNorth Korean and Russian children take part in a ceremony at the Songdowon International Children’s Camp in the North’s eastern coastal city of Wonsan on July 22, 2025, to mark their entry into the camp as part of deepening their friendship, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Russian FM returns home after N. Korea visit Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) shakes hands with his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son-hui, as he leaves an airport in North Korea’s eastern coastal city of Wonsan on July 13, 2025, following his three-day trip to the North for meetings with Choe and the North’s leader Kim Jong-un, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (Yonhap)
Hopefully Ukraine’s allies are keeping pace with Russia’s allies in the production of artillery rounds:
North Korea has continued to provide Russia with artillery shells to support its war against Ukraine, which amounts to more than 12 million rounds of 152 mm shells, according to South Korea’s military intelligence authorities Sunday.
North Korea is believed to have provided around 28,000 containers containing weapons and artillery shells to date, according to a report by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) submitted to a lawmaker of the main opposition party.
“If calculated with 152 mm single shells, (the number of supplied shells) are presumed to have reached more than 12 million,” the DIA under the defense ministry said.
