Kim Jong-un marks Victory Day with tribute to Chinese soldiers
3 Min Read
Kim Jong-un marked Victory Day by visiting Pyongyang’s Friendship Tower, honoring Chinese soldiers killed in the Korean War.
-
DPRK leader, Kim Jong Un, visited the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery, laid a flower before the wreath-laying stand “Soul of Heroes” and paid high tribute, praying for the immortality of the fallen soldiers of the People’s Army on July 27, 2025. (Social media)
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) leader, Kim Jong-un, commemorated the anniversary of the 1953 Korean War armistice by visiting key historical sites in Pyongyang, paying tribute to Chinese soldiers who fought alongside North Korean forces.
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)'s report on Sunday, Kim laid a wreath at the Friendship Tower, which was built in 1959 to honor fallen members of the Chinese People's Volunteers.
Kim stated that the country "would never forget the militant feats and merits of the fallen fighters of the Chinese People's Volunteers," reaffirming enduring DPRK-China relations.
The armistice agreement, signed on July 27, 1953, ended open hostilities during the Korean War. North Korea has since marked the date as Victory Day, declaring it a symbolic defeat of US-led forces.
Tribute to Korean war armistice and Juche ideology
As part of his Victory Day visit, Kim also laid a flower basket before a statue of Kim Il-sung at the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, praising what he called a historic triumph of Juche military ideology and tactics.
In remarks reported by KCNA, Kim emphasized that the DPRK would continue its path toward building "a rich country with a strong army," aiming to become "honorable victors in the anti-imperialist, anti-US showdown."
Despite the strong rhetoric, the DPRK leader made no direct threats toward the United States or South Korea in his statements.
Kim has visited the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang on several past anniversaries, underscoring its symbolic role in reinforcing the DPRK’s wartime alliance with China.
China-DPRK alliance
Last year, on the occasion of the DPRK's 76th founding anniversary on September 9, 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory telegram to Kim Jong Un, expressing China's readiness to 'deepen strategic understanding' and 'enhance coordination and cooperation' with the DPRK.
"In the new period, in the new situation, the Chinese side will continue to pay attention to Chinese-Korean relations at the strategic level and from a long-term perspective," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, quoting the telegram.
"And it is ready to deepen strategic understanding with the Korean side, strengthen coordination and cooperation, jointly reliably protect, firmly strengthen, and dynamically develop Chinese-Korean relations of friendship and cooperation."
The Chinese president commended the Workers' Party of Korea's (WPK) leadership for shaping the people of the DPRK's promotion of "the tireless development of all national affairs with unanimity and unity."
