North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was joined by delegations from China and Russia at a “Victory Day” performance to mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice Agreement.

According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, Kim met with Li Hongzhong, a Chinese Communist Party politburo member heading the Chinese delegation, during the event which started at 12 a.m. on Thursday at Pyongyang's Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium.

Li delivered a personal letter to the North Korean leader from Chinese President Xi Jinping, after which Kim said the visit by the party-government delegation from Beijing is a demonstration of Xi's special regard for friendly ties between the two sides.

Kim said the North Korean people will never forget the honorable bloodshed by Chinese troops and their noble spirit during the conflict as time and generations pass.

The Russian delegation attending the ceremony was led by Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu, to whom Kim introduced the regime's intercontinental ballistic missiles and new drones on a visit to an exhibition the previous day.

The visits are the first by foreign dignitary delegations since the regime went into lockdown following the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020.