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North Korean leader, South Korean Assembly speaker share surprise handshake at China's Victory Day parade

Published: 03 Sep. 2025, 18:43 Updated: 03 Sep. 2025, 20:18

LEE SOO-JUNG
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Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his spouse, center, and foreign delegations pose for a photograph to celebrate China's Victory Day in Beijing on Sept. 3. The South Korean parliamentary speaker and North Korean leader are circled in yellow. [TASS/YONHAP]

South Korean National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik had an impromptu handshake with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un just before the start of China's Victory Day military parade in Beijing on Wednesday.

The handshake came as a surprise, as observers had speculated that a direct encounter was unlikely, especially given Pyongyang's recent anti-Seoul rhetoric.

Woo, who was visiting Beijing on behalf of the South Korean government, also had talks with other foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Woo and Kim reportedly chatted briefly, but the South Korean parliamentary speaker's office did not disclose other specific details. The South's Lee Jae Myung administration has worked to ease inter-Korean tensions, including the removal of loudspeakers on the border. However, the North has been unresponsive to these measures so far.

A commemorative photo, taken before foreign delegations were guided to the balcony, had Woo and Kim in a single frame. Kim was next to Xi and his spouse in the front row. Woo was seen in the mid-left area of the second row, several meters apart from the center area.

During the parade, Woo and Kim remained far apart. While Kim, Chinese leader Xi and Russian leader Vladimir Putin were at the very center of the Tiananmen Gate's balcony, Woo was at the right corner — a relatively peripheral area.

South Korean National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, left, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Sept. 3. [NATIONAL ASSEMBLY]

In his talks with the Russian leader, Woo expressed his hope to "open an era of prosperity and peace" between the two Koreas, when Putin asked Woo if he had any messages to deliver to Kim when Russia and the North meet.

"It is crucially significant for peace to settle on the Korean Peninsula in a very challenging situation," Woo told Putin, according to the South Korean parliamentary speaker's office.

Woo said Tuesday that he had communicated with the South Korean presidential office while arranging his visit to Beijing. Woo additionally asked Putin to support some 130 South Korean companies operating in Russia.

According to reports from Russian state media outlet TASS, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Putin did not separately meet with the South Korean parliamentary speaker. “They might have shaken hands and exchanged greetings briefly; there was no separate meeting,” said Peskov.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, second from left, greets and shakes hands with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, third from left, before the start of a military parade in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, on Sept. 3. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The South Korean parliamentary speaker separately requested Chinese leader Xi to attend the upcoming APEC Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea. It marked the second time Woo had invited Xi to Korea for the multilateral summit, following the first during his visit to Harbin for the Asian Winter Games in February.

Other South Korean delegation members joined the Chinese military celebration — but not on the balcony like Woo. The parliamentary delegation had its seats reserved in the distinguished guest area, where other North Korean officials were present.

Woo arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, leading a South Korean delegation to China to attend the parade and meet with Chinese officials during his four-day stay.

Ruling Democratic Party Rep. Park Jie-won, who is a part of the delegation and a former director of South Korea's spy agency during the liberal Moon Jae-in administration, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday that "North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, Director of International Department Kim Song-nam and seven to eight other officials from the North sat 10 seats in front of them in the left side."

On Thursday, Woo is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang. He will return to Seoul on Friday.

Update, Sept. 3: Added remarks from Kremlin.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]