(2nd LD) N.K. leader pays respects to fallen soldiers ahead of Korean War armistice anniv.

▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) bows to pay tribute to the North's soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War and buried at the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery in Pyongyang on July 25, 2023, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice that will fall on July 27, in this photo released by the North's Korean Central News Agency. North Korea refers to the three-year conflict as the Great Fatherland Liberation War. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un places a wreath to pay tribute to Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War and buried at the cemetery of martyrs of the Chinese People's Volunteers in Hoechang, South Phyongan Province, on July 25, 2023, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice that will fall on July 27, in this photo released by the North's Korean Central News Agency. North Korea refers to the three-year conflict as the Great Fatherland Liberation War. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

▲ Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (R) shakes hands with North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam after arriving in Pyongyang on July 25, 2023, in this photo released by the North's Korean Central News Agency. A Russian military delegation, led by Shoigu, visited the North to celebrate the 70th anniversary on July 27 of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) NK leader-armistice anniversary

(2nd LD) N.K. leader pays respects to fallen soldiers ahead of Korean War armistice anniv.

(ATTN: CORRECTS info in 5th para; EDITS paras 10-13)

SEOUL, July 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited cemeteries to pay respects to the country's soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War and to commemorate the anniversary of the signing of the armistice, state media said Wednesday.

The Korean War ended with an armistice agreement on July 27, 1953. The North calls the war the Great Fatherland Liberation War and designated the armistice signing date as Victory Day.

Kim visited the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery in Pyongyang on Tuesday on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, and was accompanied by Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam and other military leaders, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

During his visit, Kim said the "miracle of July 27" is a "great victory of significance in the human history as they inflicted eternally indelible disgrace and defeat on the U.S. imperialism, the chieftain of aggression, and prevented a new world war."

It marked Kim's first public appearance in nearly two weeks. He was last seen in public guiding the launch of a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile on July 12, according to a KCNA report released the following day.

Kim also visited the cemetery of martyrs of the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) in Hoechang County, South Pyongan Province, to pay "high tribute" to the fallen Chinese soldiers on the occasion of the armistice anniversary, the KCNA said in a separate report.

Kim stressed that the "great victory won by the peoples of the DPRK and China at the cost of their blood is invariably displaying its great vitality still now, century after century."

Top officials accompanied Kim, including his powerful sister Kim Yo-jong and Jo Yong-won, secretary for organizational affairs at the ruling party, as well as Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.

China fought alongside the North against South Korean, U.S. and United Nations troops during the Korean War.

Meanwhile, the KCNA said a Russian military delegation led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday for commemorations of the armistice.

North Korean state media has not yet released any report on whether a Chinese delegation led by Li Hongzhong, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, has arrived in the country. The KCNA reported Monday that the North invited the Chinese delegation to attend the celebrations.

These two cases of the secretive regime inviting foreign guests are some of the first since it imposed rigid border lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the invitations, the North appears to be emphasizing its solid ties with China and Russia in the face of growing defense cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo over Pyongyang's provocative acts.

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