Kim Jong Un's Bulletproof Train Journey to Beijing Signals New Anti-Western Alliance with Xi and Putin

Kim Jong Un's green bulletproof train arriving in Beijing for military parade with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at Tiananmen Square

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's journey to Beijing aboard his heavily protected train became part of a much larger diplomatic event in September 2025: China's commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia. Kim joined Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and more than 20 other foreign leaders for the September 3 military parade in Tiananmen Square.

The appearance of Xi, Putin and Kim together attracted particular international attention because it was the first time the three leaders had appeared publicly at the same event. Their presence demonstrated increasingly close diplomatic ties among Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang, but the spectacle itself did not establish a new trilateral military alliance.

Kim Jong Un's Armored Train and the Journey to Beijing

Kim has repeatedly used a distinctive armored train for major foreign trips, continuing a mode of travel associated with North Korea's ruling Kim family. The train offers greater physical security and controlled communications than conventional commercial travel, although many detailed claims about its internal configuration come from intelligence assessments, defectors, state-media imagery and historical reporting rather than independently accessible technical documentation.

Rail travel is also practical for journeys from North Korea into neighboring China and Russia. Kim used trains during several high-profile diplomatic trips beginning in 2018, including visits connected with meetings in China, Vietnam and Russia.

For the Beijing visit, the symbolism extended beyond the train itself. Kim was making a rare multilateral appearance abroad and participating in a major Chinese state ceremony alongside leaders from across Asia, Eurasia, Africa and elsewhere.

What the Beijing Gathering Actually Represented

China held the September 3 parade to commemorate what Beijing calls the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. According to the Chinese government's published guest list, 26 foreign leaders were scheduled to attend, including Putin and Kim.

During the ceremony, Xi appeared on the Tiananmen Rostrum with Putin and Kim among the visiting leaders. The image was geopolitically significant because Russia's relations with Western governments had deteriorated sharply over the war in Ukraine, North Korea remained under extensive international sanctions, and strategic competition between China and the United States continued across security, trade and technology.

Still, the gathering should be distinguished from a formal trilateral alliance. China, Russia and North Korea have different interests and different treaty relationships. Their leaders' joint appearance provided evidence of closer political engagement, not proof that the three governments had created a NATO-style collective-defense organization or unified command structure.

China's Military Parade Displayed New and Existing Capabilities

The parade itself was a major demonstration of the People's Liberation Army's modernization. According to China's official account of the planned event, more than 10,000 military personnel, more than 100 aircraft and hundreds of ground weapons were involved.

Systems displayed included unmanned and counter-unmanned equipment, hypersonic weapons, directed-energy systems, electronic-warfare equipment and strategic missiles. China's subsequent official account said the parade also publicly displayed components of its land-, sea- and air-based strategic nuclear forces together.

The presence of advanced weapons demonstrated capabilities that China wanted to showcase publicly. It did not, by itself, establish how individual systems would perform in combat or demonstrate an intention to use them in a particular conflict.

Xi's Message: Military Strength Alongside Calls for Peace

Xi used the ceremony to present China's interpretation of the wartime anniversary while calling on countries to prevent another major conflict. Chinese official reporting quoted him urging nations to address the causes of war and prevent historical tragedies from recurring.

That message accompanied a large display of military power. The combination reflected two recurring elements of Beijing's foreign-policy messaging: portraying China as committed to peaceful development while emphasizing the People's Liberation Army's ability to defend what the Chinese government defines as national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.

The guest list also showed that the event was broader than a meeting of China, Russia and North Korea. Leaders from countries including Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Serbia, Slovakia and several others were invited, complicating portrayals of the parade as simply a gathering of a single geopolitical bloc.

Russia-North Korea Military Cooperation Is More Concrete

Although a formal China-Russia-North Korea alliance should not be inferred from the Beijing ceremony, military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang had already moved well beyond diplomatic symbolism.

Russia and North Korea signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty in June 2024 containing a mutual-assistance provision. North Korea subsequently acknowledged deploying troops to support Russia. In April 2025, Pyongyang publicly confirmed for the first time that its forces had participated alongside Russia in fighting connected with the Kursk region.

That development marked a substantially deeper level of security cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang than the relationship demonstrated simply by leaders standing together at a Chinese ceremony.

North Korea has also been accused by the United States, South Korea, Ukraine and other governments of supplying Russia with substantial quantities of artillery ammunition and other weapons. Moscow and Pyongyang have progressively made their defense relationship more explicit, while disputes have continued over the scale, legality and battlefield effects of individual transfers.

China's Relationship With Russia and North Korea Is Different

China maintains extensive political and economic relations with both governments, but its relationships with Moscow and Pyongyang are not identical to the Russia-North Korea defense partnership.

Beijing and Moscow describe their relationship as a comprehensive strategic partnership and have expanded diplomatic, economic and military contacts. China has also remained North Korea's most important economic partner and has longstanding treaty ties with Pyongyang.

At the same time, public evidence does not establish a three-country collective-defense structure linking China, Russia and North Korea. Treating every instance of coordination among the three governments as evidence of a single integrated alliance can obscure important differences in their interests, obligations and foreign policies.

Why Kim's Beijing Visit Still Mattered

Kim's participation nevertheless carried substantial diplomatic significance. North Korea spent much of the COVID-19 pandemic period with exceptionally limited international contact, and Kim's foreign travel remained rare even after border restrictions eased.

The Beijing ceremony gave him an opportunity to appear alongside Xi and Putin at one of China's most prominent state events. China subsequently announced that Xi and Kim would hold talks covering bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern, underscoring Beijing's interest in maintaining high-level engagement with Pyongyang.

For Kim, the visit also demonstrated that North Korea was not diplomatically isolated from every major power despite sanctions and its confrontation with the United States, South Korea and Japan over its nuclear and missile programs.

What the Xi-Putin-Kim Image Meansâ€”and What It Does Not

The image of the three leaders together was an important symbol of changing diplomatic relationships, particularly against the background of the Ukraine war and intensifying strategic competition between Washington and Beijing.

It also highlighted a practical reality: attempts by the United States and its allies to isolate Russia and North Korea operate in an international system where both governments retain important relationships with other states.

But diplomatic alignment is not the same as a unified alliance. The strongest documented military relationship among the three at the time was the rapidly expanding Russia-North Korea partnership. China's ties with both countries were extensive, yet Beijing continued to pursue its own diplomatic and economic priorities.

Kim's armored-train journey therefore mattered less because of the train's unusual characteristics than because of its destination. His arrival in Beijing placed the North Korean leader at the center of a highly visible demonstration of diplomatic engagement among governments whose relationships with the United States and its allies had become increasingly consequential to global security.