On the 4th, National Assembly Chairperson Woo Won-sik, who attended the 80th anniversary celebration parade of China's victory on the 3rd, met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and received a greeting of "Nice to meet you" along with a handshake from him. When asked by Russian President Vladimir Putin what message he would like to convey to North Korea, he said he conveyed the importance of peace on the Korean Peninsula through the strengthening of cultural exchanges.
Chairperson Woo held a luncheon briefing for reporters around 12:30 p.m. local time in Beijing that day and stated that he exchanged brief greetings with Chairman Kim in the waiting area before the parade on the 3rd.
Chairperson Woo greeted, "It's been a long time. It's been 7 years. Nice to see you," and said that Chairman Kim responded in a low voice, "Yes. Nice to see you," before shaking hands. He added, "Due to the limited on-site situation, that's all we exchanged as greetings." When asked about Chairman Kim's expression and the atmosphere on site, he drew the line by saying, "I will only mention that much for the future development of inter-Korean relations."
Regarding the conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin that was made public the day before, he revealed that he conveyed the need for cultural exchanges for peace on the Korean Peninsula in response to Putin's question about whether there was any message he wanted to convey to the North Korean side. He mentioned that in relation to the UNESCO General Conference to be held in Korea next year, he expressed the hope that "UNESCO commissioners can visit the Korean cultural heritage along with (the recently designated UNESCO World Heritage sites) Mount Kumgang, Wonsan, and Galma."
In his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he greeted him and said, "I look forward to seeing you again at the Gyeongju Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting," and noted that President Xi nodded in response. Regarding claims that he was treated poorly at the parade, Chairperson Woo stated that it is natural for him, not being a head of state, to receive less recognition compared to other heads of state, saying, "Among participants who are not heads of state, I was at the front. I do not think it is being treated poorly."
Regarding interactions with Myanmar military leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who has been a source of controversy, he stated, "There are 1,500 of our citizens in Myanmar. Shaking hands and chatting with him was to convey that we care a lot about the safety and lives of our citizens," and expressed his solidarity with those suffering for democracy in Myanmar.
On that day, he mentioned that he received concerns regarding the anti-China protests occurring in Korea during a meeting with Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China. He stated, "The spread of anti-China protests and sentiment domestically has aspects triggered by China's installation of structures in the West Sea, so I stated that China should think deeply about that part as well." However, he added that he did not receive a response to this.
During the luncheon, there were opinions that need to cautiously interpret the close ties between North Korea, China, and Russia. Kim Jun-hyung, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from the Rebuilding Korea Party, stated, "While it appears as a North Korea-China-Russia alignment at the parade, compared to the strength and density of the alignment between Korea, the United States, and Japan, it is a very weak coalition," and added, "China is particularly wary of the three countries aligning to give justification to South Korea, the United States, and Japan. He continued, "If North Korea, China, and Russia unite, we must further strengthen our relations with China and Russia to weaken that. Care should be taken to avoid framing them as North Korea-China-Russia versus South Korea-United States-Japan."