There are observations that Kim Jong-un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, and Woo Won-sik, speaker of the National Assembly, may meet at the 80th anniversary event of the 'Victory Day' held in Beijing, China, on September 3. The Ministry of Unification stated it will keep an eye on the situation.
Deputy Spokesperson Jang Yoon-jeong of the Ministry of Unification said during the regular briefing on the morning of the same day that in response to a question about the attendance of Kim Jong-un and Chairperson Woo at the Chinese Victory Day parade, she noted, "We will not make assumptions and will pay attention to related matters."
Deputy Spokesperson Jang also stated regarding the impact of Kim Jong-un's visit to China on the Northeast Asian situation and inter-Korean relations, "We will observe the situation while paying attention." The Presidential Office stated it was aware of Kim Jong-un's plan to visit China through related agencies in advance.
Earlier, the Korean Central News Agency reported that "Comrade Kim Jong-un will visit the People's Republic of China to attend the event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people's anti-Japanese war and the global anti-fascist war."
The Chinese government announced that, upon the invitation of President Xi, leaders from 26 countries, including Kim Jong-un, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, will attend this Victory Day event.
In Korea, Chairperson Woo is attending as the representative. In this regard, on the previous day, Woo Sang-ho, chief of staff at the Presidential Office, met with reporters at Paradise City in Incheon, where a Democratic Party of Korea workshop was held, and said, "Chairperson Woo Won-sik and Chairman Kim share a special relationship as they have even had a drink together during the inter-Korean summit in 2018, so they know each other well," adding, "Chairman Kim will not act as if he doesn't know him."
Woo Sang-ho noted, "Chairperson Woo Won-sik's family still lives in North Korea, and they have had a reunion of separated families at Mount Kumgang, which contributes to their special relationship," and said, "It would be good if they meet." However, he predicted that a formal meeting might not be possible, saying, "I speculate that they might briefly greet each other at a reception or something like that."