North Korea is celebrating the 80th anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party on Friday by organizing a huge parade in the capital Pyongyang with tens of thousands of troops to showcase its extensive arsenal of weapons.   

It is also a chance for Pyongyang to shore up its relations with allies like China and Russia, who are sending high-level representatives to the event. 

China's Premier Li Qiang is attending the parade, marking the highest-level visit to North Korea by a Chinese leader since 2019.

Russia, meanwhile, is being represented by Dmitry Medvedev, the former president who now serves as deputy head of the Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin.

"Friends are together, enemies are nervous," Medvedev wrote in a post on the new Russian state-backed messenger app MAX.

Kim propped up by Xi, Putin

The parade underscores North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's tight grip on power at home and growing influence on the global stage.

As recently as last month, Kim stood next to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin as part of a visit to Beijing to attend a massive military parade marking the end of the World War II.

In a speech on the eve of the 80th anniversary, Kim lauded what he called his country's fight against a US-led military threat and vowed to turn North Korea into "the best socialist paradise in the world."

Russia's war as a catalyst

Russia's war against Ukraine and the growing geopolitical and economic rivalry between the US and China have made Pyongyang a more valuable partner for both Moscow and Beijing.

"North Korea's status has grown significantly," said Lee Il Kyu, a former North Korean diplomat and defector. "From that perspective, Kim's decision to support Russia's war against Ukraine was the right one," he added.

By strengthening North Korea's ties to Russia and China, Kim was able to mitigate the effects of UN sanctions imposed on North Korea over its contentious nuclear and missile programs.

Pyongyang has provided large quantities of weapons, ammunition and personnel to support Russia's war in Ukraine, while Moscow returned the favor by sending cargos including food and fuel supplies.

Russia and North Korea also forged a strategic partnership in 2024, pledging mutual military assistance in the event of an attack on either country.

At the same time, there are reports of China no longer enforcing the UN sanctions as strictly as it has in the past.

Pyongyang wants recognition as a nuclear power

Kim, like his father and grandfather, seems to follow the strategy of relying on producing weapons and expanding military might to ensure his family's rule.

In May, the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) estimated that North Korea was in its "strongest strategic position in decades" and posed a potential threat to US forces and their allies in East Asia.

Pyongyang is continuing to advance its military capabilities, which could allow it to even threaten US mainland, the DIA report said, adding that Kim is "increasingly confident about his international political legitimacy and the security of his regime."

North Korea, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006 under Kim Jong Il, wants global recognition as a de facto nuclear power.

For years, Kim has not only been testing and deploying nuclear-capable weapons platforms such as long-range missiles, but has also changed the nation's military doctrine.

A law passed in September 2022 permits the preemptive use of nuclear weapons and declared the country's nuclear status "irreversible."

A year later, the Supreme People's Assembly, the north's rubber-stamp legislature, enshrined the nuclear doctrine in the constitution. The odds of Pyongyang agreeing to a freezing or even dismantling of its nuclear program appear highly unlikely.

Another meeting with President Trump?

The regime's intransigence on nuclear issues seems to be paying off.

In July, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a visit to North Korea that Moscow respects and understands Pyongyang's efforts to advance its nuclear program.

China, which in fact is wary of a nuclear North Korea, has stopped issuing statements calling for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Kim now hopes that US President Donald Trump will finally break the spell and admit the North into the nuclear club.

The North Korean leader recently made new talks with Washington conditional on the US "giving up its absurd obsession with denuclearization."

There is speculation that Trump could meet Kim at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas, as he did in June 2019.

The US president is due to visit South Korea at the end of October to attend the APEC summit.

Shaping the party in his image

The military parade on Friday is also a symbol of Kim's grip on power and his successful efforts to shape the nation and the Workers' Party since the death of his father Kim Jong Il in 2011. 

Kim Jong Il never held a party congress during his 17-year rule. His son, however, held one in 2016, five years after taking power. The seventh party congress reaffirmed "Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism," a synthesis of the ideas of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung and his son, as the guiding principle. The delegates also declared that the party acts "under the monolithic leadership" of the Central Committee.

At the event, Kim had promoted himself from first secretary to party chairman.

At the eighth congress in 2021, the Workers' Party abandoned Kim Jong Il's "military-first doctrine" (Songun) and established the "people-first doctrine." Kim was then appointed general secretary of the Central Committee, consolidating his absolute rule.

Last month, Kim announced that the ninth party congress would present a doctrine emphasizing the simultaneous development of nuclear and conventional forces.

The announcement suggests that preparations for the next party meeting, presumably next year, are already underway.

This article was originally written in German.