North Korean leader cancels trip to Moscow

(Beta/AP, file)

North Korean leader cancels trip to Moscow

MOSCOW -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has canceled his trip in Moscow where he was to attend a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2.

He was supposed to appear on the Red Square on May 9, but this has been canceled "because of his duties in North Korea."

"Kim Jong-un has decided to stay in Pyongyang and not attend the Victory Day parade. Through diplomatic channels, we got the information that he has duties in North Korea and that the final decision is not to come to Moscow," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Russian President Vladimir Putin late last year invited the North Korean leader, and at the end of January Peskov confirmed that the invitation had been accepted.

It was to be Kim Jong-un's first diplomatic mission abroad.

Continue reading on: